Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Consultation on amending domestic food legislation in England, closed in March 2021, what progress his Department has made on examining labelling regulations, including mandatory labelling on food.

Following consultation, the Food (Amendment and Transitional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2021 came into force on 17th June 2021. These regulations, which do not directly relate to labelling regulations but to food compositional matters, removed mutual recognition clauses for imports of certain products containing meat, bread and flour, fruit curds and mincemeat, and spreadable fats. A period of adjustment was also provided which ended on 1st October 2022. (In the case of the Products Containing Meat etc. Regulations, this period was provided initially until 12th December 2021 but was later extended until the same date.)

HM Government is committed to optimising the information that is available to consumers, and the Government Food Strategy sets out work that we will be taking forward on consumer information and transparency. As part of this strategy, HM Government has committed to developing labelling policy in the areas of eco-standards, animal welfare, and country of origin.