Green Party Health spokeperson and Dublin candidate for the European elections, Senator Deirdre de Burca has called for the introduction of a mandatory system of EU wide food-labelling following the recent crisis over contaminated pigmeat in Ireland.

Senator de Burca said: “Country of origin labelling for beef is mandatory in the European Union at present as a result of the BSE crisis several years ago. But it is not satisfactory that these labelling requirements do not extend to chicken and pork. Rather than waiting for the next food safety crisis to occur, I believe that the EU should immediately introduce a system of mandatory food labelling that would also cover these meat products.

“My Green Party colleague Minister for Food Trevor Sargent has been actively lobbying the EU Commission to have ‘country of origin’ labelling introduced for chicken and pig meat. However the Commission has resisted the introduction of mandatory food labelling, citing concerns about trade issues within the single market. Italy has proceeded to set up its own system for mandatory labelling, despite the concerns of the Commission.

“I think that EU citizens have a right to expect the highest safety standards to apply to the food that they purchase and consume. Rather than EU Member States acting individually, and given the amount of cross-border trade in foodstuffs which occurs within the EU, I think an EU wide response to food-labelling is imperative.”

Senator de Burca says that any system of mandatory food labelling within the EU will act in the interests of the Irish food sector. “Ireland is in a strong position to benefit from such an EU wide food labelling system. This country has a well-deserved reputation for high quality foods, including our beef and pork, and we export a significant percentage of our food products both within and outside of the EU.

“This crisis also highlights the importance of organic food in our agriculture sector and I hope that once it has been established conclusively that organic pork, which has a different system of traceability and uses separate feed practices, is free of contamination, we will see its return to the shelves as soon as possible.”  

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Press Release by Deirdre