Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 November 2020
414. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the length of time the Bord Bia protected geographical indication application took to be processed to national consultation level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39359/20]
View answerFollowing a Geographical Indications conference arranged by my Department in early 2019, it was decided that an application to have an Irish beef product registered as a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) should be submitted to the European Commission. The conference was attended by the EU Commission officials as well as farming and industry stakeholders.
From that time, Bord Bia prepared the application and my Department provided advice on the EU regulatory and guideline requirements, where appropriate.
This approach was endorsed by stakeholders in the Beef Sector Agreement of September 2019 which noted that "DAFM and Bord Bia are actively engaging with the EU Commission on the development of a Protected Geographical Indication for Irish beef'. It was also reflected in the Programme for Government commitment to 'work at EU level for the development of a PGI for Irish beef'.
The time taken to finalise an application can depend on a number of factors, including the level of detail provided by the applicant in the initial draft, the nature of the product and the time required for scrutiny of the dossier, including the Single Document and the Specification Document, to ensure compliance with the EU requirements.
The result of the work undertaken since early 2019 is reflected in the documents published by my Department on 14 August 2020 under the National Opposition Procedure provided for in the PGI governing EU rules.
