Edward O Flynn

I disagree Brigid and Cliff. I think you forget the context of @Bordbia I first encountered this issue back in 2010. I bought eggs in Ireland covered in Irish flags and carrying “Bord Bia approved” branding with the national flag. Like most consumers, I assumed they were produced in the Republic of Ireland. When I checked more closely, they weren’t. Bord Bia explained that “approved” referred to standards, not origin. That answer may have been legally correct, but it exposed a serious gap between what labels mean and what consumers reasonably understand. Fifteen years later, that confusion still exists. Food produced outside the State can meet Irish standards and still carry Irish cues, while the country of origin is technically correct but visually secondary. This undermines consumer trust and disadvantages Irish producers who meet the same standards and produce locally. This is not about banning imports, it’s about clarity and honesty. Bord Bia should introduce a standard, prominent label for imported food stating: “Meets Irish Food Standards – Produced in [Country]”. The term “Bord Bia Approved” should be reserved solely for food produced in the Republic of Ireland. Imported food can meet standards, but words like “approved” carry an implied origin that the public clearly understands in a different way. It’s also worth remembering why Bord Bia was set up in the first place. Established in the mid-1990s, in the aftermath of food scares and the Beef Tribunal era, and Larry Goodman’s massive import business, Bord Bia was designed to rebuild trust, professionalise Irish food marketing, and create clear separation between commercial power and public credibility. Systems, transparency, and independence were the whole point. That history is exactly why governance and optics matter today. Where senior figures in a State marketing body have commercial interests in importing food that benefits from Bord Bia branding, public confidence is undermined even if everything is technically compliant. Trust depends not just on rules being followed, but on independence being seen to exist. @IFAmedia and our farmers are 100% correct. This isn’t protectionism. It’s about respecting consumers, protecting Irish producers, and aligning Bord Bia’s practices with the purpose for which it was created.