Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 November 2019
478. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if meat imported from mainland Europe can be stamped with the Bord Bia quality mark in circumstances in which a percentage of the overall cost of getting the meat to the supermarket shelf is incurred here, boning and packaging for example; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47115/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Bord Bia Quality Mark assures the consumer that a product has been produced to Bord Bia’s highest quality standards and that farmers and processors have been independently audited. The Bord Bia Sustainable Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme is run directly by Bord Bia and accordingly is an operational matter for that State Body. However, in the interests of informing the House on such a current and relevant policy issue, I have requested a reply for the Deputy from Bord Bia which I am pleased to place on the Dail record.
Meat imported from mainland Europe which is processed and packaged in the Republic of Ireland cannot carry the ‘Origin Ireland Bord Bia Quality Logo’ regardless of whether the cost of getting the product to supermarkets is incurred in Ireland or not.
For meat to carry the ‘Origin Ireland Bord Bia Quality Logo’, it must come from animals born, reared and slaughtered in the Republic of Ireland where the farm and the processing plants are members of Bord Bia’s Quality Assurance Schemes.
The ‘Produced and Processed Ireland and Northern Ireland Bord Bia Quality Logo’ can only be used for meat from animals born and reared on Bord Bia Quality Assured farms in the Republic of Ireland and subsequently slaughtered in Bord Bia Quality Assured processing plants in Northern Ireland.
Meat from animals born outside the island of Ireland and imported into Ireland cannot carry any Bord Bia Quality Assurance logo.
