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Gnáthamharc

Food Labelling.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 February 2004

Wednesday, 18 February 2004

Ceisteanna (63)

Denis Naughten

Ceist:

130 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his proposals for food labelling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4870/04]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Food labelling is a particularly complicated and broad based area. My primary aim is to protect consumer interest and to ensure that the consumer is properly informed. Ireland is a major exporter of food and food products and indeed there are also considerable imports, so it is imperative that the same standards are applied to the labelling of foods in every sector and that there is a level playing field for the food industry at all levels.

Following a request from the consumer liaison panel, I established the food labelling group in July 2002 to examine the whole food labelling issue. The group reported to me in December 2002 making a series of recommendations. I accepted the recommendations and set up an interdepartmental agency group to progress implementation.

Good progress has been made in the implementation of the recommendations. The two main issues that emanated from the recommendations of the labelling group were centralising enforcement in one agency and the definition of origin. It has been agreed that the enforcement of all of the food labelling regulations would be centralised in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI. This will not only streamline the enforcement measures but it will also provide a one stop shop for any complaints on mislabelling of food. There was full agreement within the food labelling group that consumers have a right to information on the origin of the meat they cook in their homes or eat out. While the group could not agree on how origin should be defined, there was unanimous agreement that further research was necessary to establish consumers' wishes in this area. At my request the consumer liaison panel has carried out this research, the results of which were presented to me in December 2003.

I am determined, in so far as it is within the powers available to me, to meet the wishes of consumers, as identified in the research. I have recently introduced two regulations in relation to the labelling of poultry meat. The first of these regulations require poultrymeat, loose and pre-packaged, originating in a country outside the EU to bear an indication of the country of origin when offered for sale in a retail premises. The second requires information regarding class, price per unit weight, condition and slaughterhouse details in respect of loose poultrymeat, that is, non-prepackaged, to be provided to the consumer. Heretofore, while these labelling indications have been compulsory for pre-packaged poultrymeat, it had not been a requirement to provide this information for poultrymeat sold loose.

In addition to the above mentioned action, I have arranged that each sector will be reviewed on a commodity by commodity basis to identify any deficiencies, from a consumer viewpoint, in the labelling regulations for those commodities. Further action will be taken over the coming period in other commodity areas.

In the beef sector, EU beef labelling regulations on origin do not currently apply to beef sold in the food service outlets. These regulations are currently being reviewed in Brussels. In the context of that review, I wrote to Commissioner Fischler asking him to consider including a provision for the labelling of origin of meat in such outlets. It is expected that a report on the review will be issued in March.

I will comment briefly on the progress in the implementation of the recommendations. EU directive on labelling of ingredients which might cause an allergic reaction was agreed at the Council of Ministers in September 2003, with the support of Ireland. Two new EU draft directives on nutrition and health claims for food are being discussed at working party level in the EU. Ireland is supporting these proposals. My officials are in discussion with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the Food Safety Promotion Board to progress the incorporation of food safety-labelling-consumer issues in the primary and secondary school curricula. The group's recommendation in regard to informing the consumer of the price per weight unit was addressed in legislation brought in by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in March 2003. The labelling group emphasised the responsibility of the food sector to produce safe food and to provide on all food and drink labels information that is clear, accurate and easy to read. In July of last year, I helped launch a practical guide for industry on food and drink labelling which was produced by Food and Drink Industry Ireland.

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