SFPA PUBLISHES UPDATED FISHERY INFORMATION NOTICE ON TRACEABILITY OF FISHERY PRODUCTS

SFPA publishes updated Fishery Information Notice on traceability of fishery products. The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) recently updated the Fishery Information Notice (FIN) titled ‘Traceability of Fishery Products.’ Traceability is the ability to trace and follow a product through all stages of production, processing, and distribution, from catching or harvesting to retail stage and is a requirement of both food safety and fisheries control law. All Food Business Operators must have processes in place to ensure traceability and they must be able to trace products back to their immediate supplier and trace products forward to their immediate buyer.

Different labelling requirements will apply depending on the operation. Food Business Operators selling fishery products to other businesses must provide specific information on labels/packaging and commercial documentation. Businesses retailing to the final consumer must ensure that they label fishery products with the mandatory consumer information, as detailed in the FIN. At all stages, operators must provide sufficient information on labels or commercial documents to enable retailers to pass on the mandatory information to final consumers.

Operators should familiarise themselves with the FIN and the requirements for traceability and labelling. Example labels and further guidance can be found in the FIN.

The SFPA is committed to supporting compliance with both new and existing legislation and is available to provide guidance. For assistance or further details on the FIN, please contact: sfpafood&fisheriessupport@sfpa.ie

The FIN can be accessed on the SFPA website www.sfpa.ie under ‘Fishery Information Notices’ and then ‘Marketing, Traceability and Sale of Fishery Products’, or by following this link: FFSU-FC-FIN-OC-03-25 Traceability of Fishery Products V2