Member

One of our main concerns—and expressed by other noble Lords—is whether this has hit the right level in terms of transparency, labelling, and support for consumer choice. Ministers have stated that food and feed from precision-bred organisms are unlikely to need labelling, but public opinion is at odds with that, as described by my psephological and noble friend Lord Pack in his first speech after his maiden speech. As outlined by the noble Baroness, Lady Freeman, there is a danger that consumers want this kind of information. Our own policy paper, Food and Farming, set out our vision for food labelling that empowers consumers with as much information as possible to make informed choices and a method-of-production labelling that is common in our food system; in other words, allowing consumers to shop their values. We would like to know whether the Minister feels that a public register is an adequate substitute for clear labelling on the product itself. Does she share concerns that this lack of traceability and labelling also has implications for our farmers?