The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) is questioning the requirement for farmers supplying Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) ‘Irish Grass Fed Beef’ to be quality assured (QA).
Bord Bia previously confirmed to Agriland that farmers must be certified members of the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) for their cattle to qualify as PGI beef.
Farmers purchasing cattle for finishing who are aiming for them to qualify for the grass fed criteria must also ensure that they have QA coverage on previous farms.
The European Commission granted all-island PGI status for ‘Irish Grass Fed Beef’ in December.
Last month, the first PGI beef product to be made available to European consumers appeared on shelves in 170 Esselunga supermarkets in Italy.
Bord Bia said that the PGI status can help “to promote the unique characteristics of Irish beef, and further distinguish our beef farmers are producers of a premium quality product”.
PGI beef
The farm organisation has now written to Bord Bia chief executive Jim O’Toole to express its concern about the SBLAS requirement for beef producers to avail of the PGI bonus payment.
In the letter, seen by Agriland, IBLA spokesperson Dermot O’Brien claimed that no agreement was reached during the Beef Taskforce meeting held in October 2020 for such criteria to be applied to farmers.
He added that the “PGI bonus amount per animal or per kg has not yet been agreed or quantified”.
O’Brien said the Beef Taskforce agreed that farmers “would have a direct say in this aspect of the PGI progression”.
“Farmers feel disrespected yet again by the fact that a ‘PGI launch’ took place in Italy in March 2024 without full consultation with Irish beef farmers,” he said.
Bord Bia
Bord Bia is currently in the process of establishing a monitoring group to oversee the rollout of the PGI for ‘Irish Grass Fed Beef’.
As part of an agreement previously reached by the Beef Taskforce, Bord Bia committed to establish a monitoring group once the PGI was granted.
Bord Bia said that the role of the new group, which will include representatives from industry and farm organisations, will be “to monitor the use of the ‘Irish Grass Fed Beef’ PGI and consider its promotional activity needs”.
The national food board will run PGI trade and consumer promotion in Italy over the coming months, with Italy being used as the initial target market, before launching into Switzerland, Belgium and France.
Agriland has contacted Bord Bia for comment on the IBLA letter.