§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that labels on food products accurately reflect the country of origin; and if he will make a statement. [2946]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 9 July 2001]The Food Standards Agency is pressing for changes to labelling rules at European and international levels to require information about country-of-origin labelling to be provided to consumers on a wider range of foods, particularly meat products, and for clear rules on the use of terms like "produce of". The FSA will shortly begin a review of the guidance notes on origin labelling, issued last year, to ensure that current legal requirements are interpreted in the way most likely to meet consumers' concerns.