Martin Ferris
Question:224. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to change the regulations and methods of registering horses in the aftermath of the horsemeat crisis. [24571/13]
View answerWednesday, 22 May 2013
Questions (224, 229)
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:229. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures he has taken or intends to take to improve horse identification/traceability in view of the horse meat scandal and a time frame for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24683/13]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 224 and 229 together.
The identification and registration of equidae is governed by EU Council Directives 90/426/EEC and 90/427/EEC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 504/2008 of 6 June 2008. The EU legislation has been transposed into national legislation via S.I. No. 357 of 2011 - European Communities (Equine) Regulations 2011 (as amended). Regulation 504/2008, which came into effect on 1 July 2009, provides that if an equine animal has not been identified within six months of the date of its birth, or by the 31st of December in the year of its birth, whichever date occurs later, it cannot be admitted to the food chain. It also provides that all equine animals registered after that date must be identified with a passport and a microchip.
At present, 9 Passport Issuing organisations are approved to issue passports in Ireland, including 3 Passport Issuing Organisations that issue passports for equidae that are ineligible for entry to studbooks. Passports for equidae which qualify for registration with a breed society must be issued by the relevant breed society as provided for in Regulation 504/2008.
I made an announcement in March that I would like to see the establishment of a single Passport Issuing Organisation, which would necessitate an amendment to EU legislation. Subsequently, the EU Commission published an Action Plan for dealing with the fall-out from the horsemeat issue, indicating that it intended to submit a proposal to the Agriculture Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to amend existing legislation to provide that competent authorities take over responsibility for issuing passports. A formal Commission proposal is expected in the second half of 2013. I have indicated that I will move to the final stage in the establishment of a single Passport Issuing Agency once EU legislation provides me with the overarching legal base to put this into effect. In the meantime, my Department is engaged in discussions with the PIOs with a view to enhancing the controls on passports at all stages of the process, including veterinary certification, quality of the paper used, security features etc.
In line with a commitment I gave earlier in the year, my Department has taken significant steps to establish a central equine database on the Animal Identification and Movement [AIM] system which contains data on cattle, sheep and pigs. The infrastructure for the central equine database is now in place. The central equine database can be used to supplement the checks carried out by Department staff in the premises that slaughter equine animals, in particular to check that any horses presented for slaughter have been correctly identified and are eligible for slaughter for the human food chain. In addition, under new rules recently adopted, a keeper presenting a horse for slaughter must have a registered equine premises while keepers from outside the State are accommodated through the use of a generic herd number. The database will be interrogated to check whether a horse presented for slaughter has originated in registered premises. Aside from the usual Veterinary checks, the passport of an animal presented for slaughter is examined to ensure that it has not been tampered with, that the markings recorded on the passport match the animal and that the animal is eligible for entry to the human food chain.