Quality Assurance

EU legislation traceability

When it comes to food, consumer’s health and safety, the EU makes no compromises. EU legislation on the traceability of sheep is based on the principle of individual animal identification with the overall objective being to ensure food safety.
Consumers around the world rightly demand the highest assurances from their food producers and Ireland has been to the fore in satisfying their desires.

Traceability in Ireland

The National Sheep Identification System ensures Ireland has full traceability for all sheep on an individual basis through the individual tagging of every lamb born, and the recording of all their movements through the supply chain. With full traceability guaranteed, Irish lamb offers a level of food safety assurance that few can match. The introduction of electronic identification (EID) of sheep in more recent times adds another element to an already robust system of traceability for consumers of Irish lamb.

EU regulation 21/2004 establishes a regime of individual traceability of sheep by means of:

Individual animal identification with 1 ear tags
Flock register maintained on farm
Movement document to accompany animals when moved off farm
Recording of ear tags onto a computerised data base at point of slaughter

Through a system of bar codes, individual processing plants are able to trace the finished product along the production chain to the farm of origin.

This system of identification & traceability allows the consumer to have absolute confidence in sheep meat products originating within the EU.

Origin labelling

Being completely transparent to one’s customer ensures quality and food safety. The EU has introduced legislation that mandates indication of sheep meat origin or place of providence. The regulation requires food business operators, including processors, retailers and butcher shops, to ensure that country of origin label information is clearly displayed on pre-packed lamb products at the point of purchase. This enables consumers to trace back through the production chain to the farm of origin, granting full transparency to the consumer. Ireland has one of the most comprehensive lamb traceability system in Europe, regulated by the National Sheep Identification System (NSIS), monitored and controlled by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This system ensures that all sheep presented for slaughter are tagged with documented movement certification and flock register records, maintained by both the processor and farmer. With full traceability guaranteed, European lamb from Ireland offers a level of food safety assurance that few can match.

EU quality schemes

In addition to EU mandated legislation, Quality Assurance schemes have been widely introduced at the national level in recent years, further enhancing food safety standards and meeting the demands of consumers. The EU strongly supports this cause through actions such as the introduction of EU wide quality schemes like the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), & Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (TSG); and the establishment of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is based in Ireland.

Bord Bia assurance Schemes

Bord Bia – the Irish Food Bord developed the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Schemes (SBLAS) in response to the demands of the marketplace. There is an increasing demand from purchasers of meat products for proof that the meat is produced sustainably on farms that are certified members of an accredited Quality Assurance Scheme which works towards sustainability goals incorporating, environmental, social and economic aspects.

Through measurement and analysis the SBLAS demonstrates the quality of beef and lamb farming at individual farm level and provides constructive feedback to farmers to help them with decision making aimed at improving their sustainability performance.

The Standard (and the Scheme based on the Standard) is accredited to the International Standard for Product Certification ISO 17065: 20122 by the Irish National Accreditation Board. During the independent inspection visit, the compliance of the Applicant / Producer (in areas relating to legal, quality and customer requirements relevant to traceability, food safety, hygiene, health and safety, welfare, etc.) with the quality assurance criteria in the Standard is assessed. A report on the level of compliance achieved is then prepared for the Applicant / Producer.

The Meat Processor Quality Assurance Scheme (MPQAS) has been developed for meat processors that wish to sell products as Bord Bia Quality Assured (QA) products. All processor members are independently audited on a regular basis and are also subject to unannounced spot audits.

Sheep Welfare in the EU

As animals’ ethical treatment is enshrined by the EU legislation, European citizens are cultivated to care deeply about animal welfare. Such principles apply to every part of the supply chain - on the farm, throughout transportation, and at the slaughterhouse. Animal welfare regulations are routinely monitored by national Governments and kept under ongoing review.

Animal welfare is concerned with the wellbeing of the animal and complements the objectives of the Quality Assurance schemes that aim to produce safe and wholesome lamb for consumers worldwide. Animal welfare regulations are routinely monitored by national Governments and kept under ongoing review.

Rules governing the functioning of the European Union recognise animals as sentient beings and require full regards to be given to the welfare requirements of animals when formulating and enforcing EU policies on Agriculture.

Our partners European Beef and Lamb, the European Union, BORD BIA and Enjoy it's from Europe