Ireland would support the protected geographical indicator (PGI) for Irish grass-fed beef being extended on an all-island basis, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.
In September, the Northern Ireland beef industry said it wanted to include all cattle from the island of Ireland in the PGI, however lack of a system in the North to verify that cattle are grass-fed was a barrier to its inclusion.
Minister McConalogue has said that when the final PGI application is being submitted, he will “inform the European Commission that Ireland would support the PGI being extended on an all-island basis, when a grass-fed verification system is in place in Northern Ireland”.
Verifiable claims
“As the competent authority, my Department must be satisfied, in submitting a PGI application to the Commission, that there is a verification system in place to ensure that, if successful, the PGI is protected and that the claims made in a PGI application are verifiable.
“The draft application for a PGI for 'Irish Grass Fed Beef' provides that the control systems already in place for the Bord Bia Quality Assurance schemes and Grass Fed Standard will be used to carry out the verification, with no additional requirements for farmers.
“In the case of Northern Ireland, there is currently no equivalent verification system in place to verify that qualifying cattle are grass fed,” the minister said.
In a response to a parliamentary question from Matt Carthy of Sinn Féin, he said his Department and Bord Bia have discussed the draft application with their Northern Irish counterparts, and that he has discussed it with his counterpart Minister Edwin Poots.
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Ireland would support the protected geographical indicator (PGI) for Irish grass-fed beef being extended on an all-island basis, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.
In September, the Northern Ireland beef industry said it wanted to include all cattle from the island of Ireland in the PGI, however lack of a system in the North to verify that cattle are grass-fed was a barrier to its inclusion.
Minister McConalogue has said that when the final PGI application is being submitted, he will “inform the European Commission that Ireland would support the PGI being extended on an all-island basis, when a grass-fed verification system is in place in Northern Ireland”.
Verifiable claims
“As the competent authority, my Department must be satisfied, in submitting a PGI application to the Commission, that there is a verification system in place to ensure that, if successful, the PGI is protected and that the claims made in a PGI application are verifiable.
“The draft application for a PGI for 'Irish Grass Fed Beef' provides that the control systems already in place for the Bord Bia Quality Assurance schemes and Grass Fed Standard will be used to carry out the verification, with no additional requirements for farmers.
“In the case of Northern Ireland, there is currently no equivalent verification system in place to verify that qualifying cattle are grass fed,” the minister said.
In a response to a parliamentary question from Matt Carthy of Sinn Féin, he said his Department and Bord Bia have discussed the draft application with their Northern Irish counterparts, and that he has discussed it with his counterpart Minister Edwin Poots.
Read more
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