Boost for British farmers in battle over food labels

The European Union’s Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety has voted in favour of marking all meats, poultry, dairy products, fresh fruit and vegetables with the country that they were produced in. Euro-MPs will also vote on whether to call for mandatory labelling of meats, poultry and fish when they are used in processed foods.

The issue will now come before the full European Parliament in July for a plenary vote.

If approved the change could provide a massive boost for British farmers who currently face an uneven playing field in the market place. It is currently legal for retailers to label products as being British even if the ingredients have merely been imported and processed here. This means shops can label a product as British even if was just sliced or packaged here.

Farmers in Britain operate to some of the highest welfare standards in the world and with overheads considerably higher than their foreign competitors.

The loophole in law allows unscrupulous food companies can use cheaper foreign produce and claim it is British legally, misleading consumers and undercutting British farmers.

The Yorkshire Post has been running its Clearly British campaign for several years to call for a change in the law. The campaign has won the backing of farming leaders and high level politicians.

Many of the country’s large-scale supermarkets have already signed up to a voluntary initiative to accurately label its food and the coalition Government has raised the possibility of introducing legislation of its own if this does not yield results.

This latest vote by the EU’s environment committee forms part of the parliament’s second reading on the legislation after Euro-MPs failed to reach an agreement with the member state ministers.

The step forward won praise from the National Farmers Union (NFU) who have also spent years campaigning for the law to be changed.

NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond said clearer labelling would help consumers to choose food produced to higher standards. He said: “Shopping trends tell us consumers want to support British produce but under current labelling laws there is no requirement to state the country of origin. We believe that clear and accurate labelling will allow consumers to make an informed choice and support high welfare and environmental standards.”

Mr Raymond added that his colleagues in the NFU Brussels office would now lobby Euro-MPs to support the vote in June.