Higher penalties for food contamination

The EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr David Byrne, has said penalties for contaminating food will be increased…

The EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr David Byrne, has said penalties for contaminating food will be increased in new EU regulations covering the ingredients in animal food.

At the official opening of the Commission's Food and Veterinary Office near Grange, Co Meath, Mr Byrne said he had been unaware that pharmaceutical waste was being used in animal feed and the new regulations would cover all these areas.

Speaking against the background of the latest food scare in Europe which involved contaminated waste from Ireland turning up in pig feed, Mr Byrne said member-states and ultimately companies would face withdrawal of EU funds and other sanctions if failure to comply with the new regulations was established.

The Commissioner said the food scare was easing and it had proved the value of the rapid alert system which had been put in place to cope with such situations.

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"I am very proud that the contamination was detected so quickly and this proves the worth of the systems that are in place," he said.

The official opening of the Meath facility, which has 150 staff and is headed up by its new director, Mr Colm Gaynor, former chief veterinary officer in the Department of Agriculture, was performed by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.

He said Ireland was determined to accept nothing less than full compliance with the new rules in order to uphold customer confidence in Irish farming as a source of high quality food.

He used the occasion to address the issue of the Nice Treaty which he said had preserved Ireland's vital interests. He quoted from a speech made by the former Taoiseach, Mr Seán Lemass, when asking the Dáil to reactivate Ireland's application for membership in July 1967 and said Lemass's assertion then that we should fully belong to the Union were still true today and we should grasp the opportunity to show our commitment to Europe.

Asked if the Government would consider helping farmers who had been hit by the bad weather, the Taoiseach said he was leaving that matter to the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh.

"We have the Teagasc report and that has been given to the Minister for Agriculture who will handle that issue," he said.

Mr Ahern also said that CAP reform proposals put forward by the Commission were much more than a mid-term review and Ireland's interests in the agriculture system had to be protected.

He said the changes being proposed would have to be carefully evaluated especially in relation to the possible drop in production which might occur with the introduction of de-coupling.

The staff at the new €35 million Food and Veterinary Office have the responsibility of ensuring the EU rules on food, live animals and plant products are complied with both within the Union and in Third Countries.

The European Commission confirmed the appointment of Dr Patrick Wall, of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, to the board of the newly-formed European Food Safety Authority. He will be Ireland's only representative on the board and will continue to serve as chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.