The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, said yesterday he had been concerned for some time about food labelling and had established a widely representative group to examine the matter. Seán MacConnell and Conor Lally report.
He was responding to the IFA survey issued yesterdayon the origins of beef sold in Ireland.
Following the recommendations of the Food Labelling Group published in December, Mr Walsh said he had taken a number of actions.
These included arranging for the centralisation of control of food labellng in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and pursuing with the European Commission the question of extending the existing EU beef labelling regulations to the catering sector.
"The labelling of beef within the EU is shortly to be the subject of a Commission report to the Council of Ministers and Minister Walsh has already requested the Commission to address this issue in that context," said a statement issued by the Department.
It added that he had also asked the Consumer Liaison Panel to carry out market research to identify consumer requirements on the origin of meat, including beef.
Commenting on the volume of beef imports, he said these totalled 17,500 tonnes, of which 5,500 tonnes of beef were imported from non-EU countries, mainly Brazil, last year.
"Compared with total Irish beef production of in excess of 505,000 tonnes, the level of imported beef from these countries is less than 2 per cent," he said.
The Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture and food, Mr Billy Timmins, said the Government should now investigate the findings of the IFA survey.
He said Mr Walsh had "previously warned about this issue" but had failed to act to ensure beef labelled as Irish "is able to meet all tests of accountability and traceability".
Mr Timmons went on: "It is extremely worrying that just when consumer confidence is beginning to recover from the slump following the BSE and foot-and-mouth crisis, it is now in danger of being eroded by questionable practices by retailers and meat-packers.
"Those found guilty of any irregular activities in relation to meat packing must be held accountable and face severe penalties. The agri-food business is worth hundreds of millions to the Irish economy annually and employs thousands of workers across various sectors."
At the Green Party stand at the championships, party leader Mr Trevor Sargent called the IFA survey "shocking" and demanded Government action on beef treaceability.
Labour's spokeswoman on agriculture and food, Dr Mary Upton, said the survey underlined the need for "stricter, more thorough and better enforced regulations on the labelling of products".
She described as "shocking for the consumer, but unsurprising" the survey's findings.
"It is outrageous that foreign beef should be labelled as Irish, hoodwinking the consumer and damaging the national industry.
"In recent years, due to a series of public health scares, there has been unprecedented concern over the origin of beef and the public has to trust that the information displayed on packaging is correct."
Last December the Food Labelling Group, established by Mr Walsh, revealed disagreement over the precise labelling of meat, between consumer groups and trade representatives. "The Minister's response was to set up another group to review the situation," Dr Upton said.
The beef industry and the consumer were falling victim to "stalling tactics", she said.