Defra has confirmed it is stepping back from plans to impose a mandatory eco-labelling methodology, instead prioritising the quality and consistency of underlying farm and product-level data. This is a welcome development for processors, who have long warned that poor-quality or modelled data could result in eco-labels that misrepresent supply chains and unfairly demonise certain products, particularly meat. Defra’s position recognises that unless the raw data is robust, eco-labels risk being misleading for both consumers and businesses.
The Head of the Food Data Transparency Partnership, Lindsay Roome, has said that the Eco Working Group will shelve the plan to develop a mandatory methodology for voluntary eco-labels in favour of focusing on improving the quality and harmonisation of raw primary data. She says that if poor quality data is being used to develop eco-labels “the results that you get out could be meaningless or misrepresentative for consumers”
Work on data governance is now underway, though firm outcomes are unlikely before 2027, leaving voluntary schemes to continue unchecked in the meantime.
For processors, the shift is significant: it reduces the immediate risk of competing against labels built on unreliable or inconsistent methodologies, while giving time to shape a system that properly reflects real-world farming and processing impacts. Businesses such as The Compleat Food Group have highlighted the current challenges of fragmented and inconsistent reporting, and the value of a centrally managed, government-mandated approach that would level the playing field. The emphasis on better data infrastructure should, in time, help processors demonstrate the true sustainability credentials of their products and give confidence that future labelling won’t penalise meat unjustly.
We are the UKs largest trade body for the meat industry and provide expert advice on trade issues, bespoke technical advice and access to government policy makers
We are proud to count businesses of all sizes and specialties as members. They range from small, family run abattoirs serving local customers to the largest meat processing companies responsible for supplying some of our best-loved brands to shops and supermarkets.
We are further strengthened by our associate Members who work in industries that support and supply our meat processing companies.
We are the voice of the British meat industry.
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