Vol. 573 No. 4
138 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if sufficient attention is given to the labelling of Irish beef and lamb throughout the catering industry with a view to providing the customer with the optimum information in regard to the origins of the meat they eat; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25624/03]
EU beef labelling regulations were introduced in 2000 and are applicable to operators involved in the production and marketing of beef. These regulations do not extend to the catering industry. With regard to lamb and sheepmeat products, the general food labelling regulations apply. I have, however, been concerned about two issues in particular regarding the labelling of food. One of these relates to the question of enforcement of existing provisions and I have arranged for the centralisation of control of food labelling in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. A second issue is the scope of the existing EU beef labelling regulations and in this regard, I have raised with the EU Commission the question of extending these regulations to the catering sector. Consumer requirements are a key element in assessing the need to change or broaden existing labelling rules with regard to meat, and I have asked the consumer liaison panel to carry out market research in this area. I expect to have the findings of this research shortly.
