Defra Secretary Steve Barclay has pledged to increase transparency in food labelling to help buyers make informed choices.
Speaking at the Oxford Farming on Thursday morning, Mr Barclay set out further details of the Government’s food and farming policy in what is expected to be an election year.
This includes consulting on making food labelling clearer to help consumers and ‘make sure British farmers following high welfare standards are fairly rewarded’.
Mr Barclay said the plans will ’empower consumers to make informed decisions at the supermarket shelf and online, while backing British farmers producing food to world-leading standards of taste, quality and animal welfare’.
The labelling measures include proposals to highlight when imported products do not meet UK welfare standards, and help ensure food produced to the highest standards is consistently labelled. Mr Barclay highlighted lower standard pork imports, which can be passed off as British, and said the new labelling could apply to some processed products.
He said he would speak with major online retailers to identify ways to better support online customers to understand the origin of their food products at the point of purchase, including the option of a Buy British Button.
He said: “This will explore how we can better highlight imports that do not meet UK welfare standards, improve how origin information is given online, and look at how we can do even more to ensure promotional activity such as Union Jack labels on supermarket displays matches the products on the shelf.
“For example, this rapid consultation will address concerns such as the pork reared to lower welfare standards overseas, which is then processed in the UK and presented in supermarkets to shoppers as British. And this will include bringing lightly processed meats into the same level of labelling as unprocessed pork, and beef.
“We will also explore whether existing country of origin labelling rules can be strengthened by mandating how and where origin information is displayed. For example, on the front of packs, meaning farmers are fairly rewarded for meeting and often exceeding high UK welfare standards.
“And indeed, this reflects the lessons from labelling on eggs, where informed consumer choice has driven changes in consumer purchasing with the number of free-range eggs more than doubling.
“I am delighted that from the start of this year all geographical indication products made and sold in Great Britain will be using our UK GI logo, which protects the geographical names of food and drink. UK producers will also be able to use this logo on products sold abroad, which will help even more of your product stand out from the crowd both at home and overseas.”
Farming schemes
Mr Barclay also announced improvements to Defra’s farming schemes, including 50 more options and a 10% increase in payment rates.
The changes will include additional support for farmers and landowners who choose to create, maintain and upgrade permissive footpaths, cycle paths and bridleways on their land.
He said this will reduce barriers to accessing green spaces and encourage more people to get out and explore England’s countryside, farmland and woodland, giving them a greater understanding of how our food is produced and improving physical and mental wellbeing.
Farmers who provide greater access to their land will receive funding through new actions on offer in the government’s farming schemes next year. The revised 2024 offer will also see the expansion of the popular Educational Access scheme to create more opportunities for young people to learn about and engage with farming, forestry, food production, wildlife and the wider landscape.
Farmers will continue to receive support under the scheme for items including maps, way markers and fencing to mark out permissive access and help people enjoy farmland and woodland responsibly.
The Government also continues to work with farmers and landowners to stress the importance of all visitors to the countryside following the Countryside Code, which includes rules such as following local signs, cooperating with farmers when animals are being moved, keeping dogs under control and in sight, and taking all litter home.
NFU response
NFU Vice President David Exwood welcomed much of what was announced, including increased SFI payments for 2024 and a raft of new options such as support for precision farming and uplands and moorlands. The new actions being made available under SFI will provide further clarity which is much needed by farming businesses in order to plan for the future, he said.
“Confirmation of plans to build on the Countryside Stewardship scheme (CS) with a developed and improved offer for 2024 is also welcome including further new and enhanced options for access and wildfire management.
“However, we still have more questions than answers around the deliverability of these new options. It remains hugely frustrating that nearly six years on from the Health and Harmony consultation, which set farming in England on a path towards public goods for public payments, government is still a long way behind on its commitments.
“With a minimum of 50% reduction in direct payments due in 2024, the tapering of payments to 2027 continues to be very concerning. We urgently need business critical detail on how farmers and growers will smoothly transition from existing agreements to the new offer.”
