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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 15 September (HL10372), what estimate they have made of the (1) initial, and (2) ongoing, costs of complying with the phase three food labelling requirements under the Windsor Framework.

The Government considered the practical and cost impacts of Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme Phase Three labelling requirements through detailed conversations with industry. However, based on previous experience showing the difficulty of accurately estimating labelling costs due to variability in business practices, we did not seek to quantify Phase Three cost estimates prior to it commencing. The data in the Impact Assessment on the costs of GB-Wide ‘Not for EU’ labelling published alongside the Marking of Retail Goods Regulations provides some context, however.

Businesses have already successfully carried out Phase Three, and we continue to monitor the market and work closely with industry across the United Kingdom to implement the Windsor Framework.