Vol. 559 No. 2
88 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will amend the Registration of Potato Growers and Potato Packers Act, 1984, to require that all ware and processed potatoes including imports that are sold loose or packaged irrespective of size or weight or market, that is, wholesale or retail, are labelled with the growers registration number. [25954/02]
107 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will act on the request from the IFA National Potato Committee to amend necessary legislation to ensure adequate labelling and traceability of potatoes in view of the fact that there is currently an exit rate of 8% a year from this sector and potato growing receives no market support under the CAP. [25953/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 107 together.
The Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs has responsibility for the implementation of EU Directive 2000/13/EC relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs. Under that directive, any label must be such as would not mislead the purchaser to a material degree, for example, in relation to variety, quantity and origin.
However, in order to ensure proper traceability for plant disease purposes, the Registration of Potato Growers and Packers Act, 1984 and 2001 requires that any person who grows or packs ware potatoes must be registered with my Department and the registration number of the packer and-or grower must appear on the bag-label. In addition, all packers of potatoes are required to keep records which will enable my Department to trace back the origin of the potatoes to the grower.
