Defra Secretary Steve Barclay has brought back plans to introduce method of production labelling for pork as part of a major consultation on proposed reforms to food labelling launched today.
Defra pulled back from plans to consult on a tiered labelling system linked to method of production last year, in response to concerted opposition from within the supply chain over the cost and complexity of the plans and fears they could mislead consumers over welfare claims.
The new consultation also looks at how to improve country of origin labelling for certain goods, including how and where this information is displayed and what products should be included.
Defra said it wants to address a situation where, for example, imported pork is cured into bacon in the UK and features a Union Jack, by exploring ways to make it more obvious to consumers that the pig was reared abroad,
It is seeking views on options for changing origin labelling, including:
- Mandatory origin labelling for minimally processed meat products, such as bacon
- Increased visibility of origin labelling
- Mandatory origin labelling for certain foods in the out of home sector, for example cafes and restaurants
- Greater control of the use of national flags on labels.
The consultation also sets out proposals to require ‘method of production’ labelling on pork, chicken and eggs. This would apply to all unprocessed pork, chicken and eggs and certain prepacked and loose minimally processed products with pork, chicken or egg.
Defra is proposing a mandatory label for both domestic and imported products with five tiers – for example, numbers, letters, stars or an alternative – to differente between products that fall below, meet and exceed relevant baseline UK animal welfare regulations. Under the proposals:
- The lowest tier has no specific requirements associated with it. It indicates products that are not verified as meeting baseline UK welfare regulations for the metrics that underpin the label.
- The next tier indicates products which meet baseline UK welfare regulations for the metrics that underpin the label.
- The three higher tiers indicate production standards that increasingly exceed baseline UK welfare regulations.
- An example for pigs suggests the tiers could place free range production in the ‘highest’ tier, followed by outdoor-bred (high). The third (improved) and fourth (standard) tiers would be ‘enhanced indoor’, including enrichment, and indoor production. The bottom ‘unclassified’ tier would be be ‘non-UK standard’.
- The document sets out in detail the production standards that would be required for each tier, including how long a pig would need to be in a production system for to qualify.
- All requirements for a tier would need to be met for a product to be labelled as meeting that standard, with each proposed tier building on the one below.
The consultation will run for eight weeks, closing on May 7.
Mr Barclay, who announced the consultation at the Oxford Farming Conference in January, said the proposals for fairer food labelling will ‘ensure greater transparency around the origin of food and methods of production, helping consumers make decisions that align with their values’.
He said: “This government backs British farmers, who work hard to produce food to world-leading standards and maintain our nation’s food security. British consumers want to buy their produce, but too often products made to lower standards abroad aren’t clearly labelled to tell them apart.
“That is why I want to make labelling showing where and how food is produced fairer and easier to understand – empowering consumers to make informed choices and rewarding our British farmers for producing high-quality, high-welfare food.”
James Bailey, executive director of Waitrose, welcomed the move: “Better information boosts demand for higher standards, as we’ve seen with mandatory egg labelling. Extending this to more products benefits shoppers, farmers, and animals.
“We support the government’s efforts to improve transparency and ensure shoppers aren’t misled, while giving farmers recognition for their commitment to animal welfare.”
Fidelity Weston, chair of the Consortium of Labelling for the Environment, Animal Welfare and Regenerative Farming (CLEAR) said: “We in the UK have some of the highest farming standards, producing quality food products. That needs to be recognised in the marketplace. To achieve this, we need a clear definition of the many terms used to describe the method of production, and transparency and honest data about how the food was produced on the farm, and right through to the end product.”
Industry reaction
Commenting before the consultation document had been published, NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson said: “We will need to see the full details of what is being proposed before giving our verdict on whether they are workable and are likely to achieve their goals.
“The principle of greater transparency and clearer labelling to differentiate high quality British product from inferior imports, of course, has merit. The questions are going to be around how this is delivered in practice, without adding unnecessary costs.”
On the method of production labelling proposals, she added: “Again, we will need to see the full details, but we were part of a widespread coalition of industry bodies that opposed these plans when raised previously by Defra.
“It has to be meaningful for consumers and it could be very difficult to do this reliably for pigs, given that different parts of the carcase can go into many different markets, while there are real concerns over the cost and complexity that the requirement would add into the supply chain.
“We also need to avoid falling into the trap of claiming one system is automatically better than another – method of production is not an indication of good or poor welfare. We would also question how this could be reliably applied to imports.”
NFU deputy president David Exwood said there was a clear need for better labelling to enable consumers to make a more informed choice.
“However, labelling on its own is not the answer to safeguarding our own high standards from imports that are produced under conditions that would be illegal in the UK,” he added.
“That is why one of our asks in our election manifesto calls on the next government to enshrine a set of core environmental and animal welfare standards in law for all agri-food imports.”