Modified ingredients in nearly all our imported animal feedstuffs
The high percentage has caused problems for people seeking material which is not labelled as containing GM, who want to sell into certain niche food markets.
Of the 400 or so consignments per annum of animal feed that come into the country, incorrect labelling of six shipments of soya, maize, oilseed rape and cotton was detected by the Department. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food was told by Department officials that the six shipments were labelled as not containing GM ingredients, or had no declaration but, when tested, were found to have GM content. The importers concerned were written to and told that the product should have been labelled correctly.
In 2004 the requirement to label animal feeding stuff as GM or not was introduced, and the Department started to include GMO labelling requirements in their routine checking of imported feedstuffs. At that time 43 consignments were identified for GM label checking.
Analysis of the majority of imported feedstuff samples by Department of Agriculture and Food staff showed that the correct genetic modification was noted on their labels.
The Department has not to date received any application to market a new GM feedstuff and, as a result, has not had to put in place the authorisation provisions set out in regulations, the Joint Oireachtas Committee was told.
The Department of Agriculture and Food is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the inputs to the animal feed chain meet the required standard.
With about one quarter of the country’s animal feedstuff tonnage imported, and imports heavily relied on for most of the protein element, the vast majority of feedstuffs used on farms contain genetically modified material. If an imported consignment is labelled as containing GM, and if compound feed is made out of that, the bags containing that, which are sold to farmers, must also be labelled as containing GM.
