Officials plan new meat origin rules

Regulations requiring "country of origin" information on poultry, pork and sheep meat are being drafted by the Department of Agriculture, Minister of State Brendan Smith confirmed in the Dáil.

Mr Smith said that while the European Commission "has opposed member states introducing legislation in this area that is in excess of common EU requirements", the Minister would submit the finalised regulations to the commission "for approval as required by EU legislation".

He said it would be best if such labelling was dealt with at EU level, and that the agriculture commissioner had accepted the need for an EU origin logo to be put on all EU meat products.

During agriculture questions, Seymour Crawford (FG, Cavan-Monaghan) said "poultry farmers are not achieving the returns of the past, partly due to an enormous increase in unjustified costs. How much longer will it be before the problems in the poultry sector are addressed?" He said only 45 per cent of poultry bought in Ireland was produced in the country. Currently no change of packaging is required to allow poultry from another country to be sold as Irish poultry and it was putting extraordinary pressure on the industry here, he said.

He added that while the price of meat is reasonably good at present, "Brazilian producers are planning a major re-entry to the Irish market, which will have serious implications if we do not act now".

He asked if the department was sending personnel to the countries where imported beef, poultry and other food products are sourced to determine their quality.

Mr Smith said a scheme was being prepared which would enable the department to introduce country of origin requirements on poultry meat in the Irish catering sector. He pointed out that there were 44,000 food businesses in Ireland, 29,000 of which are in the service sector.

Denis Naughten (FG, Longford-Roscommon) asked why up to 70 per cent of restaurants are not complying with the legislation on labelling of beef. "If restaurants were purchasing Irish beef in the first instance, it would be easy for them to comply," he said.

The Minister said that while one survey suggested 70 per cent were not complying, another said 30 per cent. He added that some of the media comment on labelling was inaccurate.

Labour spokeswoman Dr Mary Upton said a number of restaurants "were not aware of the regulations, more were indifferent and some decided they had a better idea themselves. They had certificates and invited customers into the kitchen to view them to confirm the origin of the beef."