COUNTRY of origin labelling should be mandatory where processed products contain meat or milk, the UK farming unions said this week.
In a letter to Defra Secretary of State Andrea Leadsom, NFU Scotland, the NFU, NFU Cymru and the National Pig Association said a mandatory labelling move would give shoppers more choice and confidence when buying British food and increase transparency in the supply chain.
In a separate letter NFU Scotland has written to Fergus Ewing, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, requesting that the Scottish Government work with the UK Government to introduce mandatory country of origin labelling on processed meat and dairy products.
The organisations have also expressed their concerns over the loss of food name protection as the UK negotiates a new deal with the EU post-Brexit.
The call for Government action comes on the day that food labelling regulation is debated at a high profile event in Westminster. It also coincides with Red Tractor Week, where farmers up and down the country, including Scotland, will be talking to shoppers outside major supermarkets, explaining about where UK food comes from; the standards used to produce it and why they can trust the Red Tractor logo.
The joint statement to the Secretary of State said: “More needs to be done to make labelling clearer and all our organisations are lobbying hard on this issue.
“The French government is now implementing a two-year trial of country of origin labelling for meat and milk in processed products while other European governments have outlined their plans to implement country of origin labelling for processed foods.
“We believe that the UK Government should move now to introduce origin labelling for meat and milk in processed products which would provide greater transparency.
“With the Brexit negotiations on the horizon, this could be the start of strong national legislation to ensure we have clear country of origin labelling in the future.
“It is clear that some retailers and manufacturers feel origin is important by going above what is required in law and through voluntary principles. However, the inconsistency of voluntary commitment can sometimes be the source of confusion among shoppers," said the unions.
“We know more British people want more British food on their plates. A survey carried out by the NFU in May 2016 found that 60% of the public often or always look specifically for British produce when shopping for food.
“Farmers and growers produce high quality, nutritious products that carry the Red Tractor logo signalling excellent traceability and food safety, and as an industry we should be able to showcase these products to shoppers through mandatory country of origin labelling. Labelling needs to provide accurate, clear and relevant information so consumers can make an informed choice.
For in-depth news and views on Scottish agriculture, see this Friday’s issue of The Scottish Farmer or visit www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here