'Country of origin key to food success'
COUNTRY of origin labelling is the secret to saving the Irish food industry and protecting farmers from exploitation. So declared former Food Minister Ned O'Keeffe, TD, in a wide ranging and controversial address to the Dail during a debate on Bord Bia, and on its proposed merger with Bord Glas.
He was reprimanded on two occasions by the Leas Ceann Comhairle, for holding up packets of Denny and Galtee rashers. Deputy O'Keeffe called for a national food agency, the appointment of a consumer, preferably a woman, as chairperson of Bord Bia, and he warned that the Rip Van Winkle attitude to agriculture in Ireland must change. He said the Bord Bia bill now going through the Oireachtas does not go anywhere near what is needed to develop, promote or market the Irish food industry.
"Why have we not had the foresight to incorporate all food agencies into one statutory body? I have a farm and a primary production site and am involved in all facets of farming, including dairy, beef and pigs, and I can never understand why there is such a lack of commitment on the part of people in agriculture and in Government to get our act together."
Deputy O'Keeffe asked why is there no link with the Irish Dairy Board, headed by Noel Cawley, and referred to a recent article by the former IFA president Joe Rea in which he quoted the chief executive of Dairygold regarding the cheese market in Britain.
"He asked why we cannot all market under the umbrella of the Irish Dairy Board, rather than having other types of links. If we do not go down this route, we will only be dealing in half measures," said Deputy O'Keeffe.
Deputy O'Keeffe said Bord Bia has done a good job to date, in a very restrictive way. He complimented Michael Duffy as an outstanding chief executive and a great diplomat on behalf of Ireland for the Irish food industry across the world. He also praised the work of Aidan Cotter, director of operations.
"However, it is easy to promote when markets are good, as is the case in the beef market at present. It is progressing in terms of price and we will not have enough beef to supply the markets. Why could we not have found these markets three, four, five or six years ago, when the overall market was depressed?"
Deputy O'Keeffe said he has been arguing for some time about country of origin. A recent article in the Irish Farmers Journal referred to BSE in the US, Avian Flu in Thailand and the US and a refusal on the part of McDonalds, the hamburger chain, to use South American beef because of lack of traceability.
"McDonald's is one of the largest franchises in the world and it has refused to take Brazilian beef because of problems of traceability".
"There is no point in telling me that the aforementioned countries have no statutory measures to protect their beef and chicken industries. "In Brazil, the average salary received by a beef industry worker on the factory floor is e100 per month".
"It is not so long ago since Dunnes Stores was boycotted for buying grapes from South Africa, where workers were treated so badly under the apartheid regime. However, we are eating beef in Ireland that was also produced by slave labour and nothing is being done about it. Traceability is very important."
Referring to a reported row between the Department of Agriculture and Food and a Cork farmer regarding the Department's special investigation unit, he asked: why does the Department not investigate what is coming through our ports?
"Why does it not examine Thai chicken, Korean chicken and products from Indonesia and Brazil, and compare them with the produce of Irish farmers? Irish farmers are not doing what producers in these countries are doing and they are not using the same feedstuffs. We have learned a lesson from what happened regarding Far-Eastern chicken.
"Were it not for the Sunday Times, we would not know about the Kerry Group being hit by the ban on Thai chicken imports. It is the largest importer in the country, thus affecting Irish farmers. The Government will have to decide if it is supporting big business or our farmers.
"Telling me that the countries in question export to European and North American standards does not mean anything.
"In Ireland, the way we develop our business and production is enshrined in law, whereas that is not the case in the other countries."
Deputy O'Keeffe said the Oireachtas, which makes the laws of the land, should ensure that the country of origin is specified on products.
"What is wrong with listing the country in which a product originated? The Irish consumer is being conned at an unprecedented rate. The Danes produce one million tonnes of pig meat in their slaughter houses. We slaughter pigs and produce 250,000 tonnes of meat.
"There are no significant imports of chicken into Denmark. They have about seven million people, their dairy quota is the equivalent of ours, but there are no significant imports into the country."
"Denmark exports on a massive scale. It imports 40,000 tonnes of whole pig meat and about 20 tonnes of pig fat. I am a pig producer, and I know we produce 250,000 tonnes of pig meat and import over 50,000 tonnes.
"Will the Minister of State tell me how this can be justified? It is about time somebody did something about the problem."
Holding up a packet of rashers, which, he said, was produced by Denny in Shillelagh, he said he would like to know the origin of this meat.
He said he understood the plant in Shillelagh is full of imported bacon products. Yet, the packaging referred to Bord Bia.
"I am paying a levy to Bord Bia. Am I paying it to import products? Farmers are on their knees and the Rip Van Winkle attitude to agriculture in Ireland must change," he said.
Deputy O'Keeffe said the own-label phenomenon is a new con job."We now have many supermarket chains, including Lidl, Aldi and Tesco, all of which are looking for a market share. Wal-Mart is the largest in the world. It is about time the European Union had a directive pertaining to the own-label phenomenon."
Deputy O'Keeffe said he could start up a consumer food business, get a grant from Enterprise Ireland and obtain all the foods from abroad, regardless of the existence of Irish farmers and producers. "Every country has its own patriotic sentiments. We are importing while the Danes are exporting and therefore there is a problem. Irish farmers are paying Bord Bia levies. For what? It is about time the farmers and the IFA examined where our levies are going. I am a substantial payer of levies to Bord Bia. Let us be straight about the fact that this cannot continue. I am telling the truth about this."
Stressing that the food industry is a significant one for the country, he asked for what are farmers paying statutory levies? Is it so that advantage can be taken of them? "Farmers are being treated like peasants. I am a farmer and I know what is happening. What will happen in the future? We will have no sugar beet industry, no pig industry and no chicken industry this is nearly gone anyway and we will have a few ranch or dairy farmers. We are proud of this and boast about it in the Mid-Term Review. We think it is great that the country is regressing to the time of the Firbolg and Tuatha Dé Danann. It is about time someone stood up for Irish farmers and Irish agriculture."
Deputy O'Keeffe said he was not finding fault with officials. Some of the finest officials in Ireland practically all of them worked in the Department of Agriculture and Food. He was very proud to work with them and they were as bright as one will find in any part of the land. The board of Bord Bia is predominantly represented by big business interests. It should have a consumer chairman, preferably a woman," he said.
Deputy O'Keeffe said the ex-Secretary General of the Department of Agriculture and Food is on Bord Bia and on the board of Kerry Foods, and this unethical contradiction should be corrected.
"We are not protecting ourselves from the problem posed by the Pacific Rim. We do not need to import from those countries who do not have legislation to protect their industry.
"Can the Minister of State devote five minutes to explaining why we cannot have the country of origin marked on our products? Is it because Kepak wants to mix its beef with French or Scottish beef or Goodman wants to do something else? We have had enough of that.
"Let us put the country of origin on our products, and protect the farmer-producer and consumer. The country of origin is the secret to saving our food industry and protecting our farmers from exploitation."
Deputy O'Keeffe produced another packet of rashers, which, he said, were Galtee and did not carry any reference to Bord Bia, because the company imports so much, scaling down the purchase of local pigs in favour of imports, even though it receives Enterprise Ireland grant aid.
"The Minister of State is in charge. Let him make a name for himself and be the Donogh O'Malley of agriculture by making an order tomorrow that the country of origin must be identified on the package, and forget about big business."
Deputy O'Keeffe said he does not understand why an Irish Government, led by Fianna Fáil, would shy away from its responsibility to protect the consumer and the producer on such an important issue. "I would also like to know why the Minister of State did not develop a national food agency, because he tells us we export 90% of our produce. There is no problem legislating to incorporate the private sector into a State sector," he said.
Deputy O'Keeffe said the Bord Bia Bill does not go the distance to solve the problems of the food industry. Farmers must produce food to compete with food coming into the country, where there is no legislation to protect them. Irish farmers are disciplined and there are no rogues among them. Their herds have a good disease-free status. Most diseases in the country come from imported stock. There is more supervision and argument with farmers at farm level than at the point of entry in our ports.
"I am told that one could bring an elephant into the country and he would not be seen until he put his head up somewhere, but if I had a bullock with no tag and he strayed, half of the Department's squad would come after him. That is the truth," he said.
