Firms warned to act on new law

FOOD and beverage companies were reminded yesterday that they have only eight months to put systems in place for complying with new EU traceability requirements which come into force on January 1 next.

Failure to comply with the strict legislation, which is designed to protect consumers, will expose companies to heavy penalties.

EAN Ireland, a neutral, not for profit organisation responsible for the development and use of bar coding, scanning and electronic data interchange (EDI) standards in Ireland, issued the deadline reminder.