I propose to take Questions Nos. 456 to 458, inclusive, and Questions Nos. 461 to 463, inclusive, together.
Under Commission Regulation No. 710/2009 of 5 August 2009, the use of veterinary treatments is permitted in certain circumstances, provided the governing conditions are adhered to.
If veterinary medicinal products are used, such use must be declared to the Control Body or the Control Authority before the animals are marketed as organic. My Department, as the Competent Authority, has delegated control tasks to five Organic Control Bodies, who receive all such declarations and hold all relevant records.
In addition, Regulation 710/2009 provides that treated stock are to be clearly identifiable. In the case of fish, for example, this means that any batches of fish that have been treated can be identified at the point of production, to ensure amongst other things that the required withdrawal period for the treatment in question is being observed. However, this is an issue of record keeping, not labelling of packaging. Organic operators meet this requirement by maintaining information at their premises giving details of the purpose, date of application, method of application, type of product and relevant withdrawal period, as well as by the declaration of such use to the Control Body and by making all required information available to the Control Body.
It is also important to note that the withdrawal period between the last administration of any such veterinary treatment and the production of organic produced foodstuffs from such animals is twice the withdrawal period applicable for non-organic production for the medicine in question. If the fish are treated in full compliance with the provisions laid down in the Regulation, then they fulfil all the requirements of organic production and may be labelled and sold as such.