Pending the outcome of a European Court challenge, Irish animal feed companies will not have to disclose the percentages of the contents of their products, the High Court heard yesterday.
The companies have objected to new regulations requiring them to make public those percentages. The companies claim their recipes are "trade secrets", and that they should not be required to disclose or publish them.
They have brought legal proceedings challenging regulations brought in under European Council Directive 2002/EC on the circulation of compound feeding stuffs.
On March 1st, the High Court gave the companies leave to challenge the regulations in judicial proceedings against the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Ireland and the Attorney General.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Ó Caoimh heard from the sides on the companies' application for a continuing stay on the implementation of the regulations - which were due to come into effect last month - until the determination of proceedings before the European Court of Justice.
A number of companies in Italy, England and other EU member-states have brought proceedings before the European Court of Justice opposing the new regulations.
The applicants in the proceedings are: Irish Sugar Ltd, trading as Greenvale Animal Feeds, William Connolly and Sons Ltd, trading as Connolly's Redmills, Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny; Robert Smyth and Sons (Strabane and Donegal) Ltd, trading as Smyth's Daleside Feeds, Ballinadrait, Lifford, Co Donegal; Arrabawn Co-Op Society Ltd, trading as Dan O'Connor Feeds, Nenagh, Co Tipperary; Neil Stewart, trading as Joseph Stewart, Boyle, Co Roscommon; and A W Ennis (Dublin) Ltd, Balbriggan, Co Dublin.