Update: Regulations for Food Imports, 2nd July 2015

Parliamentary Question No.129 & 134    
 
 
 
 
To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which he remains satisfied regarding the adequacy of regulations to ensure the highest possible standards in regard to traceability; the extent of new regulations in this regard with particular reference to country of origin in respect of meat and meat products imported into the jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement on the matter.  

– Bernard J. Durkan.  
 
 

To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which traceability and labelling continues to be effective in respect of all food imports; and if he will make a statement on the matter.  

– Bernard J. Durkan  
 

 
For WRITTEN answer on Wednesday, 1st July, 2015.  
 
Ref No: 26654/15 & 26659/15  Proof: 133
 
 

REPLY  
 

The Minister for Agriculture, Food      and the Marine  : (Simon Coveney)  

I propose to take 26654/15 and 26659 together.  
 
Regulation (EC) No. 178 of 2002, which sets out the general principles and requirements of EU food law, stipulates, among other things, that food business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution within the businesses under their control must ensure that foods satisfy the requirements of food law. Specifically in regard to traceability, the regulations require that food business operators must have systems in place to be able to identify any person from whom they have been supplied with a food. They must also have a system in place to identify the other businesses to which their product has been supplied. In other words a food business operator at each and every stage in the food chain must be able to identify the source of its inputs as well as having details of the first recipient of its output. This is commonly referred to as the “one step forward one step backward” traceability system. There are additional traceability requirements for certain fishery and aquaculture products under the Control Regulation (Regulation 1224/2009 and its Implementing Regulation 404/2011) from  first sale to subsequent stages of production, processing and distribution up to retail.    
 
Rules on the labelling of meat and meat products  are laid down in EU legislation. For beef, compulsory labelling rules have been in place for many years, and require food business operators to label fresh, frozen or minced beef with specific information to enable the product to be traced back to the animals from which it was derived. This must include details of the slaughterhouse and de-boning hall in which the animal was processed, as well as the country in which it was born , reared and slaughtered.  
In 2011 the European Union passed the Food Information for the Consumers (FIC), Regulation 1169/2011, which is applicable to all foods intended for the final consumer and including foods delivered to mass caterers. This Regulation has updated the requirements for consumer information and labelling in a number of areas. In particular, the FIC Regulation extends mandatory origin labelling to meats other than beef for the first time. The implementing provision is Commission Regulation No. 1337/2013, which introduced mandatory origin labelling for meat from pigs, poultry, sheep and goats with effect from the 1^st  April 2015.   Under this regulation, labelling is required to identify the Member State or third country of rearing and the Member State or third country of slaughter for these meats. The term ‘Origin’ can also be used where the country/member state of birth is the same as the country of rearing and slaughter.
 
Ireland has been a strong proponent of such rules and I have signed into law a new Statutory Instrument No. 113 to ensure that the necessary provisions are in place to implement this mandatory labelling requirement and a period of compliance building has now begun. In addition, my Department is liaising with the Department of Health with a view to extending the legislation to include “loose meats” e.g. meat cuts that sold through butcher counters.
 
As the deputy will also be aware, the Minister for Health has overall responsibility for general food labelling legislation. However, my Department and, in the case of fish or fishery products, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, play an important role in the labelling of food together with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). Under EU law primary responsibility for the safety and traceability of food placed in the market place lies with food business operators. The role of my Department is to verify compliance by the food business operators with this requirement.My Department has a permanent veterinary presence at all its approved slaughter plants. Controls at stand-alone secondary processing plants are carried out at a frequency which is based on an annual risk assessment for each plant. An annual audit of imported products is carried out in each Department approved meat plant. The audit includes physical identity, labelling and documentary checks for product originating both in EU Member States and third countries. In addition, labelling and documentary checks form part of the routine checks conducted by Department officials.
As regards the import of products of animal origin from third countries, this is governed by a comprehensive and robust legislative framework laid down at EU level, controlled by EU Member States in the first instance, and audited by the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), to ensure compliance with all of the relevant food safety standards. The legislation imposes a series of health and supervisory requirements, designed to ensure that imported products meet standards at least equivalent to those required for production in, and trade between Member States.
Import controls on products of animal origin, including fish and fishery products, arriving from third countries must be performed at an EU Border Inspection Post approved for that category of product being presented. Consignments for import requiring veterinary checks must be notified in advance to the Border Inspection Post of import and presented on arrival for checks with all the appropriate documentation. Third countries exporting to the EU must be approved to export fishery products to the EU and these countries are subject to audit by the Commission’s FVO.