Foreign food could carry UK kitemark
Foreign food could carry UK kitemark
By Johann Tasker
FOREIGN producers could be eligible to use the kitemark being developed by the NFU to promote British food, it has emerged. European Union rules mean the NFU is powerless to prevent overseas food from being labelled "British Farm Standard" if it reaches British quality criteria.
The revelation means consumers could soon be confronted with imported Dutch food bearing the words "British" and "Holland" if the NFU agrees that it has been produced to British standards. It came to light less than a week after the Meat and Livestock Commission conceded that foreign producers could apply to use the British Meat Quality Standard.
Helen Lo, NFU head of food and marketing, said the union had considered many legal and technical issues before reaching its decision to let foreign companies apply for the logo. Imported meat produced to British standards would be able to use the NFU logo so long as the country of origin was also labelled, she conceded.
"As long as there is clear country of origin labelling, then legally we cannot stop them from using the NFU logo. What were trying to do with the kitemark is to make sure that there is a clear country of origin associated with it. It might be foreign but [the kitemark says] it is being produced to a British standard."
Ms Lo denied that the inclusion of two words denoting two different countries would be confusing for shoppers who are already confronted by a plethora of labels. The NFU logo would be well defined and would guarantee that a product had been produced to British standards even if it wasnt British, she said.
The irony, however, is that foreign producers could benefit from using a label funded by British farmers. John Howard, marketing director of the Danish Bacon and Meat Council, said Danish producers were looking forward to studying NFU guidelines for the kitemark but would want their own "Danish" logo also shown.
Dutch producers will also be examining the rules of the NFU scheme, said Robert Smith, UK managing director of the Dutch Meat Board. He added: "Anything that drives quality up has to be welcomed, regardless of nationality. So we would like to learn more about it so that we can consider it properly."
For British farmers, it seems the only hope is that the NFU guidelines will be so complicated that no foreign producer could ever hope to comply with them. But for the union to say so could be deemed a breech of competition rules drawn up by bureaucrats in Brussels to promote the single European market. *