§ Hugh RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many British fruit and vegetable products are registered for Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication schemes; [108065]
(2) what steps her Department is taking to encourage British products to register for Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication status. [108066]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 8 April 2003]One British vegetable product, the Jersey Royal potato, has been registered as a Protected Designation of Origin. The UK currently has 33 products registered in total. As part of our Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food which seeks to help our food and drink producers add value we want to encourage more applications and raise awareness about the schemes. Officials have written to trade associations and individual producers about the schemes and have had a number of meetings with potential applicants and retailers. My colleague Lord Whitty has promoted the schemes with producers at a media event in January, while the Defra stand at the International Food and Drink Exhibition in March was devoted to publicising these schemes. We will be working with Food From Britain and the Regional Food Groups over the coming months to continue to encourage applications and raise the profile of the schemes amongst consumers.