Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2019
506. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the controls that are put in place to ensure that live lambs imported from Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales are correctly labelled according to EU country of origin regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42331/19]
View answerThe intra EU movement of animals is recorded on the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES), which is the EU-wide online management tool for all sanitary requirements on intra-EU trade and importation of animals, semen and embryo, food, feed and plants. Imports of live animals are recorded on TRACES by the competent authority of the country of origin on the point of exit.
Food products placed on the marketplace are covered by a range of legislation designed to ensure that products supplied to consumers are of the highest safety standards. My Department plays a part in the enforcement of this legislation along with other Government departments and State Agencies such as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and the Health Service Executive. The FSAI is the body responsible for enforcement of regulations governing traceability, labelling and provision of food information to customers.
Labelling of food is governed by the EU food legislation on the provision of Food Information to Consumers (Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011), which lays down strict rules on labelling of ingredients. Country of origin labelling is mandatory for certain meats and other products such as honey and wine. From 1 April 2020, it will be mandatory to indicate the country of origin of the primary ingredient (which makes up more than 50% of a food) if it is different from the country of origin of the product as a whole.
