§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps his Department is taking to ensure that products that do not meet United Kingdom quality and animal welfare standards are labelled accordingly. [105111]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 17 January 2000]: Consumers who wish to support British quality and animal welfare standards tell us they actively choose foods which 417W are marked as British. Following concerns that such labelling can sometimes mislead, we have consulted a wide range of interested parties on strengthened guidance aimed at ensuring that country of origin markings on food labels do not mislead consumers about the true origin of the ingredients that have been used. Officials will be discussing the responses with some of those consulted on 19 January and an announcement will be made shortly thereafter.