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East Yorkshire MP says Food Labelling Shake-Up will Boost Business for Farmers

Sir Greg Knight MP welcomes Government plans to make food labelling rules clearer.

Farmers in East Yorkshire say Government plans to make food labelling rules clearer when we leave the European Union will boost business for them. Most livestock foods currently have to show on the packaging which country its come from apart from processed meat or where its an ingredient in a ready meal. And some argue this doesn't distinguish British produce from meat which is reared abroad. In this interview with ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Political Reporter Sarah Sanderson the East Yorkshire MP Sir Greg Knight says "This is, in effect, cheating customers in my view and if the meat is sourced from abroad the label should say so clearly and in large type. Clearer food labelling rules would be of great benefit to Yorkshire farmers because most consumers want to buy British." John Gatenby is a farmer who also represents the National Farmers Union in East Yorkshire. He says "Some of the material that comes in from abroad is produced to lower or different standards which gives them the ability to be able to undercut us on price. We must not disadvantage some of our consumers who are very restricted on a cash budget but from a producers point of view we would like to get a fair return for what we produce." A spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ β€œThere are already a number of ways in which farmers can secure recognition for high animal welfare or environmental standards, from the Red Tractor scheme to the Leaf mark. However, we are now looking at the potential for a single, scaled, measure of how a farmer or food producer performs against a sensible basket of indicators that measure farm and food quality.”

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