March 5, 2010

Irish feed sector cleared for safety issues

IRELAND has received clean bill of health from EU inspectors who followed up the pork dioxin scare of December, 2008, with a week-long evaluation of the animal feed industry last September.

The inspectors concluded that Ireland's official controls on feed legislation are largely in line with European requirements, and that the system has been strengthened in light of the dioxin crisis. Checks on compliance of feed establishments with hygiene requirements were found to be largely adequate.

However, some deficiencies were found in the in-depth assessment of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and quality controls requirements. This could lead to situations where some relevant hazards are not considered or effectively controlled. An informal tolerance in Ireland for presence of packaging material in feed was also in breach of an EU rule.