Ten enforcement orders were served on seafood businesses late last year, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) reports.
The orders were served during the final quarter of 2022 for breaches of food safety legislation under the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998 and the European Union (Food & Feed Hygiene) Regulations 2020.
The SFPA says the enforcements were issued by sea-fisheries protection officers during risk-based official controls.
It says that “no closure orders were issued over this period”.
The SFPA’s responsibilities include enforcement of food law in the seafood sector up to the point of retail, and this involves the assessment of food safety controls across the marine and aquaculture sectors.
The SFPA says it has responsibility for the enforcement across a range of 2711 business operations nationally.
It says its officers carried out 60 inspections in land-based establishments in the last quarter of last year.
SFPA executive chairman Paschal Hayes said “the low level of non-compliance found illustrates the considerable efforts being made by seafood businesses to work within the regulations, as well as the robust inspection system in place to assure and, where necessary, to enforce compliance”.
The SFPA said it had also confirmed a successful food safety prosecution in the case of SFPA v. Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-op Society Ltd.
“The defendant entered guilty pleas to food safety legislation offences, arising from an inspection conducted on 18th of October 2021, relating to the condition of parts of the food premises, failure to ensure pest control and protection against contamination, and failure to comply with procedures on traceability of raw fishery products,” the SFPA states.
“The defendant was fined €2000, and an order relating to costs was made in favour of the SFPA,” it says.