Foreign food eligible for UK kitemark
17 March 2000
Foreign food eligible for UK kitemark
By Johann Tasker
FOREIGN producers could be eligible to use the kitemark being developed by the National Farmers Union 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.
Shoppers could soon be buying imported Dutch food bearing the words “British” and “Holland” if the NFU agrees it was produced to British standards.
The revelation comes less than a week after the Meat and Livestock Commission admitted that foreign producers could apply to use its British quality mark.
Helen Lo, NFU head of food and marketing, said the union had considered many issues before deciding 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.”
Ms Lo denied that the inclusion of two words denoting two different countries would be confusing for shoppers who 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.
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. We would like to learn more 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.