§ Dr. MarekTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has for ensuring that information is available to the consumer about the origin of food at the point of sale. [42160]
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§ Mr. RookerGenerally, the place of origin of any food must be given if omitting it could mislead the purchaser about the true place of origin of that food. The Department has issued guidance on these rules which makes clear that, where such indications are used to describe processed foods, this must not mislead the consumer about the origin of the individual ingredients of the product.
More specifically, EC rules require certain fresh fruits and vegetables to be marked with the country of origin at all points of sale. In October last year, we launched the Beef Labelling Scheme, which provides for the accurate labelling of beef. With effect from 1 July, any beef labelled with country of origin information must have been derived from animals born, reared and slaughtered in that country. It is envisaged that national origin labelling of beef will become compulsory by the year 2000.