STORMONT’S Agriculture Minister has called on supermarkets to be mindful of what a bad year farmers have had when dealing with the “fallout” from the horse meat scandal.
Michelle O’Neill met representatives of the big supermarket chains at Stormont yesterday and afterwards called on sampling costs to fall on those who import or use foreign beef – not on Ulster farmers.
As reported previously, many Ulster farmers suffered a tough year, with poor weather hurting crop yields and affecting the ability of some to work.
In a statement in the wake of yesterday’s meeting the minister said: “I stressed to the supermarket representatives that 2012 was an exceptionally difficult year for our farmers, with incomes falling dramatically due to an number of factors out of their control.
“The horse meat controversy is therefore a very unwelcome development so early in the new year and it is essential that the major supermarkets take this into consideration when dealing with the fallout from this serious issue for the industry.
“I made it clear that the cost of sampling food should fall on those businesses importing or utilising product which doesn’t have the authentication provided by our own local traceability systems and that such costs must not fall to our primary producers whose product is second-to-none.”
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has demanded that those who produce or deal in beef test it for traces of horse and report to them by Friday.
This applies to, in the words of the FSA, “any business carrying out any activity related to any stage of production, processing, distribution and sale of food”.
The Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association called for the minister to host a “round table of processors, suppliers and farmers to address not just the horse meat issue but also other key issues, such as farm-gate prices and other problems in the local supply chain”.