§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that beef which is slaughtered abroad and processed in the United Kingdom is not labelled as solely British; and if he will encourage local authority trading standards officers to enforce existing regulations. [149583]
§ Ms QuinUnder EU rules, fresh, chilled or frozen beef must not be labelled as British unless it is derived from cattle born, raised and slaughtered in the UK. To use the term "British", an operator must have an approval issued by one of the UK agriculture departments and employ an independent third party verifier to check the validity of the claim. My Department has issued guidance on the EU beef labelling rules to operators in England and has 723W worked closely with LACOTS on guidance to local authorities on enforcement. The guidance which has been issued by LACOTS asks local authorities to be pro-active in securing compliance with the rules. Further information is available via the Department's website (http://www.maff.gov.uk/foodrin/fdindx.htm)