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Mrs. Ann Winterton (Congleton): I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak briefly on Report--which I, like my hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman), think is an extremely important part of a Bill's passage. Report and Third Reading provide many hon. Members--who, for one reason or another,
have been unable to speak on a Bill on Second Reading, or to play their part in Committee--with an opportunity to comment both on a Bill's provisions and on amendments made in Committee.
I comment on behalf of my constituents, who consist not only of farmers and growers, but of consumers. To all those who might have criticised me in the past, saying that I was too much on the side of farmers, I point out that I have many more consumers than farmers in my constituency. Nevertheless, I believe that, on the whole, farmers work very hard to produce wholesome foods and other products. I also follow in the footsteps of my right hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) in all that he said about British produce--to which I shall return later in my speech.
One of the difficulties of a shortened Report stage is that many excellent amendments on important provisions may not be debated--and I am referring specifically to the important provision of a right of appeal. I had always believed that we in the United Kingdom believed in justice and that, if a Government agency ruled on a certain matter, producers would always have a right of appeal against that ruling. Amendment No. 1 would reintroduce such a right of appeal, but we may not be able to consider it, and that is a pity.
I acknowledge that the Government went to great trouble to introduce an innovative way of ensuring that the draft Bill was scrutinised, and that the results of that process have been widely acclaimed on both sides of the House. Moreover, proceedings on the Bill in Committee were very amicable, and that is also to be welcomed. Members of the public do not always realise that, whichever party is in government, there is often much common ground between the Government and the Opposition on matters of common sense. Therefore, I commend what has gone on.
The Government are concerned about the wholesomeness of food and the health of the nation. Perhaps it is pertinent to reflect that although the agency to be set up by the Bill will ensure that food produced in the United Kingdom is produced to the highest standards, it will omit the most important part, in that it does not relate, nor could it relate, to food produced on the continent and elsewhere, because of the rules of the EU. These rules always seem to me to be ridiculous, and I cannot understand why neither the previous Government nor this one have tackled the problem with more enthusiasm and energy.
There is no doubt that for beef, pigmeat or lamb--as well as eggs--the animals have been raised to the highest welfare standards. Farmers in my constituency are proud of the way in which they raise and care for their stock, and they send their stock to market in the best possible condition. We all know that that cannot be said of many countries in the EU. It is essential, for that reason, that British products are properly labelled--by that, I mean not labelled in a misleading way. For example, "British bacon" often comes not from pigs raised in this country, but from meat imported and processed in this country. That is dishonest, to say the least. If new clause 1 were accepted, it would be a major step forward.
We are to provide more labelling of the nutritional element of food, and other information for the consumer--such as labelling of the country of origin. We
must recognise also that these provisions equate with further regulations and added costs to producers, and therefore to the consumer. Many will consider the extra cost worth while, but we must recognise that we are placing added costs on our industry which will not be placed on industries in other countries from which we import food.
Food labelling is here to stay and is welcomed by many consumers. However, much can be misleading, and the information given must be accurate. My hon. Friend the Member for Meriden listed a range of foods and products which were not as they appeared to be. However, organic products in this country--when they are approved by the Soil Association--are recognised as being of high quality.
Mrs. Winterton:
The often rather belligerent hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) agrees with me, no doubt because he has organic producers in his constituency. When I served on the Agriculture Committee, we undertook an inquiry into these matters. With others, I visited Blagdon farms, where Yeo Valley yoghurt is produced, and we were given samples. I hasten to add that I did not feel that I had to include them in the Register of Members' Interests. Since then, I have bought nothing other than Yeo Valley organic yoghurt. It is excellent, and we ought to be promoting it throughout the EU as something that is produced in a wholesome and--I believe--old-fashioned way.
I have always sought positively to buy British in everything, but especially in food, not least because I come from a farming and country background from way, way back. I have never, never bought French apples and I have no intention of doing so. When our apples and pears are not in season, I am more than happy to buy them from Commonwealth countries such as New Zealand or South Africa, but I am damned if I will buy those ghastly things that look perfect, but taste of nothing. That brings me to another subject.
Mrs. Winterton:
No, something much more important than that. I am talking about British produce. We need to have British produce labelled as such, because it is the best marketing tool that we have. Sadly, many consumers buy on the basis of price rather than on the basis of quality. I always try to buy the best quality, and if necessary, I will buy less. It is essential to market our quality food. I hope that that message will go home and that we will be able further to promote the excellence of our produce.
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith (Wealden):
I welcome the Bill. New clause 1 would require that
I gather from the gossip in the Chamber that if we require country of origin labelling we may run up against European Union law. I hope not. Perhaps the Minister can
tell us. Will he let us know whether we cannot compel people to label food as made in this country because we will run up against Brussels?
Mr. Rooker:
I did not want to intervene, because of the time constraints, but if the hon. Gentleman will sit down I will answer him. He does not seem to want me to do that.
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith:
I was making the point that labelling food as British is important as a marketing tool. We are moving towards having fewer and fewer subsidies, and we are encouraging our farmers to market quality products that should be better known by the public, such as Southdown lamb or York ham.
I am not sure whether we can implement the requirement to include the system of production on the label, but the aims of the new clause should be studied seriously.
Mr. Rooker:
I shall do my best to respond to some of the issues raised, but I shall be brief and I apologise to the House for that.
There are good reasons for my asking the House not to accept new clause 1. The key reason is that it would make matters worse than they are now. The Bill is drafted in general terms, and the powers of existing legislation are being transferred to the Food Standards Agency. If we started listing in the Bill specific duties such as food labelling but did not list, for example, food composition, food authenticity, food additives, food hygiene and chemical contaminants, it would be argued in a court that those issues were less important than food labelling because Parliament had listed food labelling in the Bill. Yet they are all equally important. What is more, they are all covered by the agency's powers. That can be said without any qualification whatever.
"all food products are accurately labelled with a complete list of ingredients",
but that is already done. I assume that that is the law. However, ingredients are often listed in a way that is very difficult to comprehend or even to read.
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