Unhappy with official controls on identification

TRACEABILITY of beef and beef products has improved significantly since 2002, said officials from the EU’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) in last week’s report of their inspection in Ireland last September.

Registration of bovine holdings and the identification of animals in general met EU requirements.

However, they found official controls on identification and registration were not reliable; they did not require a systematic control of all animals; and no procedure was in place to verify their effectiveness. Cross-compliance checks were not reliable.