‘Cattle still being smuggled over Border’
His statement followed the discovery of six unidentified young male calves in a state of distress on a road near Ballybofey, Co Donegal, close to the Border, on October 12 last.
Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan confirmed that these animals, in line with normal practice, were destroyed because the identification and origin details could not be confirmed.
Mr Sargent said it is unacceptable that such occurrences are allowed to continue.
It was a major concern that beef from untagged cattle would be sold to consumers who purchase it under the misapprehension that it is Irish, he said.
Mr Sargent warned that if this is allowed to continue, the impeccable reputation of Irish beef could be in jeopardy.
He said Ms Coughlan can give chapter and verse about the department’s traceability processes, but enforcement is what matters.
Ms Coughlan said that a number of measures are in place to deter illegal cross-border traffic in cattle.
In Ireland, cattle do not have any legitimacy unless they are tagged with official tags, registered on the central CMMS database and accompanied by official cattle identification documents - cattle passports.
The processes of tag supply, passport issue and registration on the central database are subject to a series of validation checks designed to verify the origin, identity and status of each animal.
A number of checks are also conducted on all applications for registration. Any discrepancies uncovered are followed up and must be resolved before the registration is accepted and a passport issued.
