asked the Minister for Agriculture if it is a fact that meat killed in the Saorstát for exportation to the English market does not bear any mark and is consequently sold as low grade, no matter of what quality, and, if so, whether he will consider the advisability of marking such meat in such a way as to denote its origin.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Marking of Exported Meat.
Fresh meat exported from the Saorstát under the Agricultural Produce (Fresh Meat) Act, 1930, bears the prescribed mark, which is in the form of a circle, with the words "Irish Free State" at the outer edge, the word "Passed" in the centre, and underneath that word the particular number assigned to the registered slaughtering premises in which the meat was prepared for export.
The Act has been in operation since 1st September last, and the mark is now well understood to signify that the fresh meat to which it is applied is certified by the State to be free from disease, and to have been prepared and packed under the State control provided by the Act and the Regulations made thereunder. No provision is contained in the Act for the grading of fresh meat, and in the absence of such provision there is no power to require marking of fresh meat so as to indicate a system of grading.