S6W-26008

Asked by: Briggs, Miles (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Lothian)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25115 by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024, what response it has received from the (a) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and (b) Food Standards Agency, including counterparts in (i) England, (ii) Wales and (iii) Northern Ireland, regarding the development of a four-nation policy proposal under the UK Food Compositional Standards and Labelling Common Framework in relation to mandatory braille labelling of food products.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Wales and Northern Ireland, have noted the petition PE1997: Introduce mandatory braille labelling for food products sold in Scotland and the interest in Scotland around progressing this issue under the UK Food Compositional Standards and Labelling Common Framework. Defra have indicated that the UK Government has no immediate plans to initiate a public consultation on policy proposals for the introduction of mandatory braille labelling on food products, citing several factors that need to be explored before policy development can be considered on a UK-wide basis. This includes how viable braille labelling would be on a wide range of packaging, as well as the relative effectiveness and associated costs alongside using alternative different digital technologies. FSS intend to initiate stakeholder engagement in this respect during the 2024-25 business year and will keep the other UK lead departments updated at Common Framework discussions.