Should Ireland s Food be Irish?? Raymond O Rourke, Food & Consumer Lawyer, Member of the TASTE Council. What do consumers say & how do they act???

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1 Should Ireland s Food be Irish?? Raymond O Rourke, Food & Consumer Lawyer, Member of the TASTE Council What do consumers say & how do they act??? 1

2 ROI consumers place much more emphasis than NI and GB consumers on label information Checking for Quality Symbol (%) Checking for Country of Origin (%) Always check for quality symbol Always check for country of origin Sometimes check for quality symbol Sometimes check for country of origin Never check for quality symbol/ not sure Never check for country of origin/ not sure 2 (Base: All grocery shoppers)

3 Quality symbols have grown in relevance Always check for quality symbol Sometimes check for quality symbol 3 (Base: All grocery shoppers)

4 Country of origin has become more important Always check for country of origin Sometimes check for country of origin 4 (Base: All grocery shoppers)

5 Shoppers are not just claiming an interest in local they are increasingly buying local % buying local produce monthly % buying local produce weekly % buying local produce daily 5 (Base: All Adults 15+)

6 Shoppers are not just claiming an interest in local they are increasingly buying local % buying local produce monthly % buying local produce weekly % buying local produce daily 6 (Base: All Adults 15+)

7 For shoppers, local produce is perceived to be higher quality, safer and healthier % Agree ROI 2005 ROI 2009 NI 2005 NI 2009 GB 2005 GB 2009 Food produced locally results in higher quality products 62% 67% 51% 68% 45% 63% More confident in the safety of food produced in my local area 57% 65% 52% 63% 36% 52% Food produced locally has less preservatives and artificial ingredients 53% 60% 44% 52% 36% 51% 7

8 8 How can the LAW assist in promoting Irish Food??

9 ORIGIN LABELLING Mandatory Origin Labelling Beef & if consumer would be mislead without such information Irish Government (2007) notified to European Commission, draft regulations requiring country of origin labelling on pigmeat, poultry and sheepmeat - Commission rejected draft regulations (March 2008) Commission proposal [Com (2008)40] proposal for a Regulation on the provision of food information to consumers presently being debated by European Parliament 9

10 ORIGIN LABELLING Article 33 covers country of origin labelling It keeps the status quo such labelling is voluntary but becomes mandatory if the consumer could be misled!?! 1. Country of origin of food is not the same as one of its primary ingredients 2. For meat other than beef, country of origin can be given where animal has been born, reared & slaughtered in same country Commission will introduce implementing rules on how Article 33 will work in practice 10

11 ORIGIN LABELLING European Parliament its likely there will be a majority in favour of amending the proposal so as to introduce mandatory country of origin labelling in line with EU Beef Labelling regime Bigger issue esp. with Industry is the issue of substantial transformation highlighted in Report of the Food Labelling Group (Dept of Agr: 2002) problem is Brazilian beef can be imported, used as an ingredient in a food product and then be passed-off as an Irish product Need for this term to be clearly defined and harmonised across the EU again the European Parliament is interested in clarifying this issue so as not to mislead consumers 11

12 ORGANIC FOOD Council Regulation 834/2007 Foods can only be marked as organic if at least 95% of their ingredients are organic. The use of GMOs is prohibited. Producers of packaged organic food must use the EU logo as of 1 July

13 ORGANIC FOOD Labelling must include the code number of the certifying body to which the organic operator is subject as well as the words Certified Organic Two certifying bodies in Ireland: European Commission running a publicity campaign as part its work in the area of sustainability on organic farming with the slogan: Organic Farming: Good for Nature, Good for You 13

14 PROVENANCE - PDOs/PGIs Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 On protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs = PDOs and PGIs = Geographical indications = identifying products as originating in a territory where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin

15 PRODUCTS COVERED Bakery/pastry Table olives Beer Oil/fats Fruit/vegetables/cereals Cheese Livestock/animal products

16 Traditional Speciality Guaranteed TSG 20 registrations since 1992; 25 applications Criteria: traditional composition and specificity Examples Mozzarella, Jamon Serrano Traditional has strong consumer appeal; Some national schemes established in a similar vein European Commission looking at ending this scheme

17 DISTRIBUTION OF PDOs/PGIs/TSGs by MEMBER STATE Italy 190 Finland 6 France 162 Lux 4 Spain 122 Ireland 4 Portugal 116 Sweden 4 Greece 86 Slovakia 4 Germany 67 Hungary 3 UK 32 Slovenia 1 Czech Rep 20 Cyprus 1 Austria 13 Belgium 12 Poland 12 Neths 7

18 IRISH PDOs/PGIs Clare Island Salmon (PGI) Smoked Salmon Dairygold Imokilly Regato (PGI) Regato Cheese Timoleague Brown Pudding (PDO) Processed Pork Connemara Hill Lamb Lamb

19 HUNGARY Established Traditions-Taste-Regions programme to build-up a collection of traditional and regional products existing in Hungary CRITERIA : Production by traditional method; linked to a specific geographical region; historical dimension (min. 2 generations = 50ys); good reputation 300 products accepted by National Council to use logo Using this collection to now submit applications for PDOs/PGIs to Brussels for products that have good marketing potential 3 PDOs registered; 9 applications pending

20 QUALITY SCHEMES

21 LOCAL FOOD Venice near Rialto Bridge

22 LOCAL FOOD Barcelona s La Boquiera food market

23 LOCAL FOOD Paris

24 LOCAL FOOD Traditional means of selling food via markets farm-gate Over 150 farmers markets established round the country and many now aligned with Good Practice Standard for Farmers Markets. Country Markets over 50 in operation around the country for last 60 years Huge popularity with consumers while assisting in maintaining vibrant rural communities and most importantly a local food culture

25 LOCAL FOOD EU Hygiene Package (2004) Commissioner Byrne adamant that local food Cultures/traditions should not be lost with the introduction of HACCP throughout the food chain flexibility clause enforcement left to M.S. enforcement an issue Review of the Hygiene package (July 2009) stated there were no problems with the enacted of the flexibility clause in different M.S. the European Parliament has different views especially in relation to microbiology tests Need to look again at this issue in relation to farmers& country markets and traditional/artisan producers

26 CONCLUSION L O C A L local, traditional, speciality food now a major theme of EU policy origin labelling & organic food consumer demand for such foods artisan foods & PDOs/PGIs law facilitating this new movement