We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.Herbert attacks Government on food labelling
THE Government has been accused of neglecting British farming interests after it ‘argued against’ mandatory country-of-origin labelling of food products in European talks.
Nick Herbert, Shadow Environment Secretary, said meeting documents showed civil servants failed to grab an opportunity to combat ‘misleading’ labelling in Brussels earlier this year.
Current EU law allows meat from animals born and bred abroad to be processed and labelled as British.
The law, which also enables manufacturers to use the Union Jack to convey ‘Britishness’ even though the major ingredient was not home-reared, has been heavily criticised by Ministers who have promised to ‘stamp out’ unclear messages and fight the case in Europe.
However, during a House of Commons debate on food labelling last week Mr Herbert said the Government had failed to back its rhetoric to oppose misleading labels.
“I have here the minutes of the European Council’s working party on foodstuffs, dated 31 July.
“Let me tell the Minister what they record: the Italians, the French and nine other member states supported mandatory country of origin labelling; the UK opposed it.
“We knew that Ministers had failed to deliver honest labelling, but now we know that they actually argued against it,” he said.
Jim Fitzpatrick, Food and Farming Minister, denied Ministers were opposed to honest food labelling but confirmed the negotiations had taken place in Brussels and that the UK, represented by the Food Standards Agency, had opposed mandatory across the board country-of-origin labelling.
He said the initiative “would have meant labels a foot long on pizzas identifying the source of every bit of pepperoni. We want clearer labelling so that we can have informed consumer choice and support British agriculture.”
The Minister also assured the House that Defra was doing all it could to improve labelling rules.
“We are working in Europe to try to ensure that food information regulations are as tight as possible, although they will not come in for perhaps another two or three years.”
He added work was also underway on the domestic front. On Thursday (December 10) Defra announced anew code of practice on the labelling of pork and pork products.
Companies who sign up to the code will clearly display the origin of the pork on the front of the packet and a declaration that the meat is ‘British’ will mean that the animal was born, reared, and slaughtered in Britain.
The agreement was reached by members of the Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force which was brought together by Defra to address issues concerning the sector.
Mick Sloyan, chief executive of the British Pig Executive, and chairman of the labelling sub-group on the Task Force, said is was ‘a very significant step forward’.
