Minister says farmers should take control of quality assurance schemes

Farmers should not expect Irish taxpayers, the Department of Agriculture or Bord Bia to pay for quality assurance schemes, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh said in Kinsale yesterday.

Mr Walsh used his official opening address at the Bord Bia Speciality Food Symposium, to tell farmers they had to assume ownership of the quality assurance schemes.

There is an ongoing dispute between farmers and the veterinary profession over who should pay the inspection charges for the Quality Beef Assurance Scheme.

The farm organisations, led by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, have been refusing to pay the inspection charges and Veterinary Ireland, representing the vets, want the fees to be paid out centrally.

Yesterday, Mr Walsh said quality assurance schemes were for the benefit of consumers in the first instance and should have the necessary internationally recognised accreditation and verification procedures to gain and retain consumers' credibility. "There must be no doubt in consumers' minds that the quality requirements they are demanding are actually met," he went on.

"Ultimately, of course, these schemes offer the prospect of better returns for farmers in higher value segments of the markets," he said. "It is in farmers' own interests to assume ownership of quality assurance scheme and not treat them as unnecessary and unwarranted control measures," he said.

"Farmers cannot very well expect everybody else, the Department, Bord Bia or the general taxpayer to fund, operate and control quality assurance schemes," he said.

Mr Walsh, addressing a group which included more than 100 Irish speciality food producers and 200 buyers, mainly from abroad, said food safety was not negotiable and there could be no compromises on hygiene, which was the cornerstone of quality.

"I do accept that the legal requirements may place certain pressure on artisan producers and this is something that I have already raised with the EU Commission and it will be foremost in my mind in the context of the now imminent mid-term review," he said.

The Irish Food Board's chief executive, Mr Michael Duffy, said the speakers at the symposium had highlighted that speciality food products, created using the best of our culinary traditions in a modern context and with appropriate specification, were being positively received. As a result, he said, the sector was poised to grow by to to 65 per cent in the next 10 years. He said the companies exhibiting at the event had combined turnover of €180 million.

The latest Bord Bia research on consumer preferences found that simplicity is a new luxury and the ritual of seeking, storing, preparing and using simple food for shared pleasure, is a new indulgence.

The factors influencing preferences including more disposable income, less time and the choices of "kidults", the young technology-aware members of the family with their own disposable income.

"As a result, the homes is more and more a refuge and food a reward. However, because of eat-out experiences, media influence and travel, premium food is increasingly in demand," he said.

Mr Duffy said retailers, attracted by increased margin contribution of speciality food, were meeting this demand, pointing to promising opportunities for speciality food.