(Chatham and Aylesford) (Con):
As a parliamentary hedgehog champion, it is a pleasure to follow
Huddersfield’s very own Mr Tiggy-Winkle, the hon. Member for
Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman).
I rise to speak to new clause 11 and amendment 37, tabled in my
name and supported by colleagues, relating to the mandatory
labelling of products with their farming method. Much of what we
have heard already aims to put high animal welfare standards at
the heart of this Bill. For the Committee stage, I tabled other
amendments, including on labelling with the method of slaughter,
but due to the truncated proceedings I can only raise one today,
and trust that the Lords will consider others when the Bill
passes to them. I hope the Government will be sympathetic to new
clause 11 and amendment 37, given that they were first proposed
in a previous incarnation of the Bill by the now noble , who is
responsible for this legislation when it continues its passage in
the upper House. Knowing him as well as I do, I doubt very much
that a red box has changed his deeply held beliefs on animal
welfare.
I believe that, ultimately, consumers are best placed to drive
improvement in animal welfare standards because consumer demands
and changing behaviours force the agriculture and supermarket
sector to adapt. The substantial shift away from caged to
free-range eggs is testament to this. At present, more than half
of egg production in the UK is free range, with more and more
restaurants and supermarkets phasing out their use and sale of
caged eggs as public demand changes. I would argue that the
legislation that required eggs and egg packs to be labelled with
the farming method has undoubtedly helped to accelerate this
change and that extending it to other products simply follows.
I firmly believe, now we have left the EU and as we prepare to
exit the transition period, that the Agriculture Bill, along with
the Environment Bill, provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity
to ensure that British agricultural standards are the best in the
world. We can and should go beyond the current European framework
and set a new standard for animal welfare. Greatly improved
labelling for farming methods can be the first step in improving
the availability of more ethically sourced food for a changing
consumer market.
My new clause and amendment require the Secretary of State to
make regulations regarding the labelling of meat, milk and dairy
products as to farming method. At present, consumer demand is
being impeded by lack of clear information at point of sale about
how meat and dairy products have been produced. Therefore,
British consumers are largely in the dark.
Plenty of consumer research has been carried out that shows an
obvious want among the British public for clearer labelling to
identify the farm system used to produce the food that we put on
our plates. I am not sure I have heard any good reason why we
should not label better, so I am hoping that the Government will
either accept the amendment, or reassure me that they agree with
the principle and will bring it back in an acceptable form in the
Lords. There is nothing to fear from clearer, better labelling,
especially as we have heard in other areas of this debate about
the desire to set a new global standard for our agriculture
sector.
Finally, I commend the work that has been achieved by colleagues
at DEFRA. I believe that this Bill will go a long way to
improving standards in the UK, but I think we need to trust the
consumer and allow consumers to have the information that will
drive their decisions about what they purchase. I hope that the
Minister will look at my new clause sympathetically and accept
it.
The amendment was not moved and therefore not voted
on.
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