Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 May 2019
136. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if fish produced at a farm by a company (details supplied) that was in excess of the permitted harvest limit has been awarded organic status. [21178/19]
Amharc ar fhreagra137. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will order an independent investigation of the organic labelling system for all salmon farms licensed by his Department in view of his decision to revoke the licence held by a company (details supplied) due to overharvesting. [21179/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together.
My Department as the Competent Authority under EU regulations has delegated the organic certification function to independent control bodies, in accordance with the relevant EU regulations and in common with the practice in many other EU MS. The organic status of food products including salmon here in Ireland is certified by rigorous on-going assessment undertaken on behalf of my Department by the aforementioned Organic Control Bodies.
The certification system for organic salmon in Ireland is subject to ongoing review and assessment by my Department and was also included in the 2016 comprehensive audit by the EU of the controls applied by Ireland to the organic sector generally.
I have no plans for an independent investigation of the nature suggested by the Deputy. However, as indicated in previous replies to similar questions from the Deputy, my Department keeps under close review compliance with the existing suite of organic requirements. Reviews of this nature are an important part of my Department’s controls in this area.
As the aquaculture licence in respect of the site named has been revoked, the Organic Control Body concerned in accordance with its procedures has taken the necessary action and suspended certification of the site concerned and instructed the Company to remove organic certification trademarks completely from the product. If the Company fails to resolve the situation by a specified date, then the organic certificate for the site in question is completely withdrawn.
