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Timetable

1.--(1) Proceedings on Consideration and Third Reading of the Food Standards Bill shall be completed at today's sitting and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion six hours after the commencement of proceedings on this Motion.

(2) Remaining proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments to the Employment Relations Bill shall be completed on the allotted day and, if not previously concluded, shall be brought to a conclusion three hours after their commencement on that day.

Questions to be put

2.--(1) This paragraph applies for the purpose of bringing any proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with paragraph 1(1).

(2) The Speaker shall forthwith put the following Questions (but no others)--
(a) any Question already proposed from the Chair;
(b) any Question necessary to bring to a decision a Question so proposed;
(c) the Question on any Amendment moved or Motion made by a Minister of the Crown;
(d) any other Question necessary for the disposal of the business to be concluded.
(3) On a Motion made for a new Clause or a New Schedule, the Speaker shall put only the question that the Clause or Schedule be added to the Bill.
(4) If two or more questions would fall to be put, under sub-paragraph (1)(c) on Amendments moved or Motions made by a Minister of the Crown, the Speaker shall instead put a single Question in relation to those Amendments or Motions.
3.--(1) This paragraph applies for the purpose of bringing any proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with paragraph 1(2).
(2) The Speaker shall first put forthwith any Question already proposed from the Chair.
(3) If that Question is for the amendment of a Lords Amendment the Speaker shall then put forthwith--
(a) the Question on any further amendment of the Lords Amendment moved by a Minister of the Crown, and
(b) the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, That this House agrees or disagrees to the Lords Amendment or (as the case may be) to the Lords Amendment as amended.
(4) The Speaker shall then put forthwith--
(a) the Question on any amendment moved by a Minister of the Crown to a Lords Amendment, and
(b) the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, That this House agrees or disagrees to the Lords Amendment or (as the case may be) to the Lords Amendment as amended.
(5) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, That this House disagrees to a Lords Amendment.
(6) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question, That this House agrees to all the remaining Lords Amendments.
(7) As soon as the House has agreed or disagreed to a Lords Amendment, or disposed of an amendment relevant to a Lords Amendment which has been disagreed to, the Speaker shall

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put forthwith a separate Question on any other amendment which is moved by a Minister of the Crown and relevant to the Lords Amendment.
(8) The Speaker shall put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown for the appointment, nomination and quorum of a Committee to draw up Reasons and the appointment of its Chairman.
(9) A Committee appointed to draw up Reasons shall report before the conclusion of the sitting on the allotted day.

Miscellaneous

4. Standing Order No. 15(1) (Exempted business) shall apply to proceedings--
(a) on the Food Standards Bill at today's sitting, and
(b) on the Employment Relations Bill on the allotted day,
and those proceedings shall not be interrupted under any Standing Order relating to sittings of the House.
5. Standing Order No. 82 (Business Committee) shall not apply to proceedings on either of the Bills.
6. No Motion shall be made, except by a Minister of the Crown, to alter the order in which any proceedings on either of the Bills are taken or to recommit the Food Standards Bill; and if a Minister makes any such Motion, the question on the Motion shall be put forthwith.
7. No dilatory Motion shall be made in relation to either of the Bills except by a Minister of the Crown; and if a Minister makes any such Motion, the Question on the Motion shall be put forthwith.
8. The Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown for varying or supplementing the provisions of this Order shall be put forthwith; and Standing Order No. 15(1) shall apply to proceedings on any such Motion.
9.--(1) If at today's sitting a Motion for the Adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 24 (as that Standing Order has effect in accordance with the Order of the House [16 December 1998]) stands over to Four o'clock and proceedings on this Motion have begun before that time, the Motion for the Adjournment shall stand over until the conclusion of proceedings on the Food Standards Bill.
(2) If on the allotted day a Motion for the Adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 24 stands over to Seven o'clock (or, in accordance with the Order of the House [16 December 1998], Four o'clock), and proceedings on the Employment Relations Bill have begun before that time, or if such a Motion stands over from an earlier day, the Motion for the Adjournment shall stand over until the conclusion of any proceedings on the Employment Relations Bill.
10. If at the sitting today or on the allotted day the House is adjourned, or the sitting is suspended, before the time at which any proceedings are to be brought to a conclusion under paragraph 1(1) or (2), no notice shall be required of a Motion made at the next sitting by a Minister of the Crown for varying or supplementing the provisions of this Order.

Interpretation

11. In this Order, 'allotted day' means any day on which the Employment Relations Bill is put down on the main business as first Government Order of the Day.

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Orders of the Day

Food Standards Bill

As amended in the Standing Committee, considered.

New Clause 1

Labelling of food products

'.--The Agency has a duty to require that all food products are accurately labelled with a complete list of ingredients, whether they are genetically-modified, the country of origin of each major ingredient and the system of production where appropriate.'.--[Mrs. Spelman.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

5.3 pm

Mrs. Caroline Spelman (Meriden): I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord): With this, it will be convenient to discuss amendment No. 8, in clause 7, page 3, line 35, after 'matters', insert

', including the country of origin of all major ingredients,'.

Mrs. Spelman: As a relatively new Member of the House, I feel as if I have just been present at a family row, in which some family members who were drawn into the discussion were never really implicated in the first place. I want to place on the record the fact that there was never any intention on the part of members of the Standing Committee, who worked in the most constructive atmosphere with the Government on the Bill, to imply that the guillotine had anything to do with the conduct of the Committee.

I want to place on the record also a tribute to the work of the members of the Special Select Committee. It was the quality of their work that enabled our deliberations in Committee to be conducted in an extremely constructive and cordial manner.

I reiterate that I was not criticising the extent of the modification of the original draft Bill, but pointing out that, because of the extent of the modification, the Bill needed careful and considered scrutiny in the Standing Committee. I re-emphasise that that was not criticism of the modification per se.

Obviously, we are disappointed that the time for Report stage has been limited. For tactical reasons, some things are best kept to be raised on Report instead of being debated--and perhaps rejected--in Committee. The eighth group of amendments on today's selection list is just one example of something new, which has not yet been thoroughly debated, that we wanted to keep for Report. I am anxious in case, in the time available, we do not manage to reach the important subject of appeals procedure.

As we said several times in Committee, we are keen for the new Food Standards Agency to be a success. That success will be measured by the confidence that producers, retailers and, above all, consumers, have in the information and advice that emanates from it.

We have amended the original amendment that we tabled in Committee, which may have created a misapprehension that we sought to usurp local authorities'

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role in enforcing the present labelling rules. That was never our intent, and I hope that the new clause makes it perfectly clear that we recognise the very important role that local authorities play in enforcing labelling rules. However, our concern is about the present labelling rules. Fundamentally, the new clause would address the weakness in the present rules that govern labelling.

An important opportunity will be missed if the Food Standards Agency does not, once and for all, crack the problem of the weakness in the present arrangements for food labelling in this country. The duty of labelling, although mentioned in the explanatory notes, does not appear in the Bill. We do not intend, in this guillotined discussion of the new clause and the subject, to revisit arguments that took place in Committee. I know that hon. Members diligently read the Hansard of the proceedings of the House and of Committee.

I have tried very hard to bring some fresh points to the discussion of the very important issue of food labelling. In last night's edition of the Evening Standard, an extract was printed from Sue Dibb's book, "What the label doesn't tell you", which makes cautionary reading for the consumer. It lists a series of meaningless or misleading terms that are currently used in the labelling of food. For example, what are called "low fat sausages" may contain less fat than sausages not labelled "low fat" but are not necessarily low in fat. The terms "lean" or "extra lean", often used in relation to meats, can mean whatever one wants. They are essentially meaningless.

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