An issue has arisen in recent days about the labelling of Irish beef outside the jurisdiction. Part of the confusion is caused by the fact that there are two separate labels and, while there are considerable similarities, there are also important differences. The first label as illustrated in Figure 1 is the compulsory beef label for all pre-packed retail product and is required by EU beef labelling legislation. By law this must state where the animal that the beef comes from was born, where it was reared and where it was slaughtered. If all three of these stages happened in the same EU member state, then the beef in the pack can carry the national identity of that country.

EU beef labelling

Therefore, if an animal was born, reared and slaughtered in the Republic of Ireland, it can be described as Irish. If it was born in Northern Ireland, sold as a calf to Scotland and slaughtered in an English factory, it can be described as British with a UK label because all of these are regions of the UK, not member states of the EU.

If, however, any single stage of the three stages of born in, reared in and slaughtered in happen in a different EU member state, then the beef cannot be described as being from any member state. The most obvious example of this is when cattle born in the Republic of Ireland are sold as weanlings to NI where they were finished and slaughtered. In this case, the EU beef label reads: born in Ireland, reared in Ireland and UK, slaughtered in UK. Beef from these cattle has no national identity under beef labelling regulations, neither Irish nor British. Such cattle are referred to in the trade as “nomads”.

It would be the same if the cattle were finished south of the border and sold to NI for processing. This was the case with cattle sent north at the weekend to get killed in NI factories – the EU beef label on these will read born in Ireland, reared in Ireland but slaughtered in the UK. Under EU beef labelling rules, beef from these cattle has no national identity and cannot be described as Irish.

Bord Bia label

Beef from cattle that come through the Bord Bia QA scheme are eligible for the Bord Bia quality mark or label and this is where the confusion appears to have arisen. This is an entirely voluntary scheme though it is a specification requirement of all top-paying customers of Irish beef. However, as it is voluntary, its rules are not based in legislation but are set by the Bord Bia beef QA scheme.

This recognises that substantial quantities of Irish beef is processed outside the jurisdiction of Ireland, either in NI, Britain or beyond. For example, two large cutting plants in NI have been taking 1,000 cattle per week from abattoirs south of the border for deboning and onward sale to the UK and other EU countries. Under beef labelling legislation, this beef is properly labelled as Irish and qualifies for the Bord Bia Origin Irish QA label the same as it would have if the deboning and packing process had happened in the Republic of Ireland (see Figure 2).

However, as was the case with cattle sent north for slaughter in recent days because of the protest, just the same as they cannot be described as Irish on EU beef labels, they also cannot carry the Bord Bia Origin Irish label. However, Bord Bia has a label that covers this type of scenario and has been available for several years to NI factories that want to source cattle in the south for processing. This label has the familiar Bord Bia QA image but the strapline instead of Origin Ireland with the Irish flag is replaced with “Produced & processed in Ireland & Northern Ireland.” (Figure 3) In practice this form of the label is rarely used because it highlights the fact that the beef doesn’t qualify for Irish origin designation.

While the beef labelling debate of recent days was a distraction, it puts the spotlight on why cattle slaughtered outside the country in which they were born and reared finish up with no national identity. It could be argued that it should be no big deal and that is the case on the continent where cattle frequently travel across national borders. However, the UK supermarkets and burger chains have made it an issue and wouldn’t accept what they described as a third range of beef. They are happy to carry beef of Irish origin or of UK origin but not beef that is a mixture of both. The flexibility that allowed cattle move from south to north for processing and filling customer orders should be made standard practice, allowing Irish born and reared cattle move to NI or Britain for slaughter without being penalised in the marketplace.