Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve food labelling so that (a) consumers are effectively informed on which products have been produced (i) locally and (ii) in the UK and (b) local products are not undercut by external competition which is not produced to the same standard.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Country of origin information is required for fresh and frozen meat derived from beef cattle, sheep, goat, pigs and poultry, as well as uncut fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, wine and some fish products. It is also required for all prepacked food where its omission would be misleading to consumers. In any case, where an indication of origin or provenance is given, either in words or pictures, this must be accurate. Buying food locally and supporting their local food economy is important to many consumers and where any label indicates that a food is produced locally, this must not be misleading to a consumer.
As recently announced by the Secretary of State, we will soon be launching a consultation on clearer food labelling. This will explore how we can better highlight imports that do not meet UK welfare standards. The consultation will also seek evidence and views on how origin information could be improved for consumers.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether licences from the Rural Payments Agency will be required for ethyl alcohol imported from the EU after the transition period.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Yes, under retained EU law, amended by the Import and Export Licences (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, any import of ethyl alcohol into the UK after the end of the transition period will need to be accompanied by an import licence issued by the Rural Payments Agency.