‘Unethical’ Food Imports Could Be Flagged With Low Quality Labels

A customer shops for vegetables in the fruit and vegetable section of a Sainsbury's supermarket in east London on Feb. 20, 2023. (Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)

The government is considering a change in food labelling, as consumers are “unknowingly” purchasing “unethical” imported food which does not meet UK welfare standards.

Writing in the Telegraph on Thursday ahead of the major agriculture event, the Oxford Farming Conference, Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said that there was a “lack of transparency” around goods from countries with worse animal welfare and environmental standards.

Mr. Barclay said that plans include a consultation on proposals to make food labelling clearer which will give more information to shoppers at the point of purchase.

‘Buy British’ Button

He warned that shoppers were being duped into buying “unethical” produce by misleading packaging.

“We know we need to go further to protect British farmers and empower consumers,” Mr. Barclay said.

“Origin information is required for many of the foods on our shelves but that won’t tell us how an animal has been treated or what the environmental standards were in the country it was raised.

“This means there are imported products in our shops that do not meet UK welfare standards and do not have labels to reflect this.

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“This lack of transparency can undercut British farmers and lead to consumers unknowingly purchasing products they deem unethical. This is not fair for consumers and it’s not fair on farmers.”

He compared it to how mandatory egg labelling led to a “huge shift in consumers buying free-range, from 32 percent in 2004 to more than 70 percent today.”

Mr Barclay said that he will also speak with major online retailers about the option of a “buy British button” on websites.

He said that he would consult on an option to enforce dedicated labels which would flag cheap imports as lower quality, either by using a logo or a set phrase.

In response, National Union of Farmers President Minette Batters told The Epoch Times by email, “All we ask is that food labels are clear, simple and contain accurate information, including country of origin, so as not to mislead shoppers.”

“This allows the public to select products produced by British farmers which are traceable, safe and produced to high animal welfare standards,” she said.

“We will, of course, respond to any future government consultation on labelling, including how an online Buy British Button can be adopted by more retailers. It is great that Morrisons has already launched this with a ‘British’ section online and we hope that will pave the way for other supermarkets to follow suit,” she added.

Former health secretary now Environment Secretary Steve Barclay leaves 10 Downing Street, London, on July 18, 2023. (James Manning/PA Wire)

The Cabinet minister also announced significant changes to the UK’s post Brexit farm payments scheme, with landowners receiving a 10 percent uplift on payments for “sustainable farming.”

Under the UK’s agricultural transition, new farming schemes are paying farmers to take actions that “boost sustainable food production while delivering positive outcomes for the environment.”

For example, environmental land management schemes pay farmers public money to work toward net zero, often by cutting production. The Sustainable Farming Incentive pays farmers to adopt and maintain sustainable farming practices.

Mr Barclay announced “premium payments” for actions with the biggest environmental impact or combinations of actions that deliver benefits at scale, for example, up to £1,242 per hectare for connecting river and floodplain habitat.

Rewilding

The UK government is pushing for land to be rewilded as part of efforts to protect native plant and animal species and cut the country’s carbon footprint.

A 2022 report by the Tenancy Working Group said that markets “for environmental outcomes will be part of the future farm revenue and cashflow” and that “income from these markets may compete with agricultural rent in the future.”

“If the value of natural capital outcomes increases, and tenants are not able to take part in the market, landowners may choose to stop renting their land for agriculture and instead cash in on natural capital,” the report said.

With environmentalism increasingly driving the agricultural land market in the UK, some farmers fear that a push that takes away land from production could cause major food security issues.

In a 2021 report Knight Frank, the UK’s leading independent real estate agency, found that business people, industrialists and even A-list actors are increasingly motivated by the desire to buy land to rewild.

Knight Frank said that by giving way to an environmental support model it predicted “that buyers motivated by a green agenda will become an ever larger part of the market.”

PA Media contributed to this report.