§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken since March 477W 1999 to ensure that British pork is labelled so that it can be distinguished from imported pork packaged in the United Kingdom. [117397]
§ Ms Stuart[holding answer 3 April 2000]: I have been asked to reply.
On 1 February the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food issued tough new guidance to industry and enforcement authorities emphasising the need to ensure that country of origin markings on food labels are unambiguous. The guidelines make it clear that, under current legislation which protects consumers from misleading presentation of foods, imported pork packaged in Great Britain should not be labelled as "British".