The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has called for additional powers to be granted to the Agri-Food Regulator (An Rialálaí Agraibhia).
The comments follow a meeting between the farm organisation and Agri-Food Regulator chief executive, Niamh Lenehan, held at Backweston on Wednesday (September 11).
ICSA president Sean McNamara said that a review of the current legislation for the regulator may need to be reviewed.
“We in ICSA are concerned that the existing laws may not be strong enough to ensure the level of transparency needed throughout the food chain,” he said.
ICSA
The ICSA president said that the regulator’s office has begun working with meat processors and is collecting data on various aspects of their operations.
“This process will test whether the current legislation is sufficient to gather all the necessary information.
“While these initial efforts are encouraging, the key question remains: will these powers be enough to achieve the transparency we need, particularly in understanding how profits are distributed along the food chain?” he said.
“Should the regulator’s office require extra powers to ensure full engagement from industry stakeholders then these powers should be granted.
“We cannot allow a situation where industry players avoid scrutiny or bypass regulations intended to safeguard both farmers and consumers.
“The regulator must have the power to guarantee full cooperation and accountability throughout the sector,” McNamara added.
The ICSA delegation also raised concerns with the Agri-Food Regulator in relation to the significant volume of beef and sheep imports entering the country.
“The practice of mixing imported beef with Irish beef for export, along with the large quantities of sheep arriving in carcass form, goes beyond a labelling issue – it is a matter of price manipulation.
“Primary producers want a fair price for their products and not to be driven out of business by underhanded tactics aimed at keeping prices down,” McNamara said.
Agri-Food Regulator
Meanwhile, a letter from the Agri-Food Regulator has been sent to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, in order to seek additional powers when requesting information.
Chair of the board of the Agri-Food Regulator, Joe Healy said that despite efforts, some retailers are “not engaging” with the board.
The additional powers would allow the regulator to compel the provision of necessary price and market information from relevant businesses in the agri-food supply chain.
In March, the food regulator had engaged with the relevant businesses in the egg supply chain to request data impacting upon price and margins with a view to producing a report in July.
Healy said that the board had “good success” with the egg packers and food wholesalers, however he added that only half of the retailers responded to the requests.