Food Labelling.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 October 2009

Tuesday, 6 October 2009

Ceisteanna (302)

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

397 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding food labelling and particularly the labelling of Irish products; if her attention has been drawn to a practice of re-labelling poultry and poultry products, which were original sourced in the UK, packaged in Northern Ireland and then subsequently sold as Irish produce; if she will clarify if this process is legal; and the steps he will take to halt this practice. [33567/09]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy Trevor Sargent)

Food labelling is currently governed by Council Directive 2000/13/EC, transposed in 2002, with several amendments since. While I am not aware of any specific case of re-labelling poultry and poultry products which were originally sourced in the UK, under Council Directive 2000/13/EC, it is permissible to state, under country of origin labelling, the country in which the product last underwent a substantial, economically justified, transformation.

In January 2008, the European Commission presented its proposals on updating and harmonising this legislation. The proposal is still under discussion. The new labelling proposal, however, states that, in the event of the country of origin being stated on the label, the place of birth, rearing and slaughter of the animal, where different from the country of origin must also be stated. Legal advice provided to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland confirms that it is permissible for food produced in Northern Ireland to be labelled as Irish.