COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
Retail labelling – Code of practice
1.1
The country of origin of pork and the pork used in processed products will be clearly displayed on the front of the packet. If this is not practical due to label size or extended origin descriptions the country of origin will be clearly displayed on the side or back of the packet. For products not sold pre-packed a country of origin statement will be displayed in close proximity to the product concerned.
1.2
Single country of origin declarations mean that the pig used to produce the pork or pork product was born, reared and slaughtered in that country.
Example
Origin country x
Country y bacon
1.3
Where a country of origin is stated and the pig is born, reared or slaughtered in more than one country then additional information will be provided on the pack. This will be either a) a statement of each of the countries involved; or b) the country where the pigs were born or reared (farmed) will be stated.
Example
Country x pork from pigs born in country y and reared / farmed in country z
Country x pork from pigs reared in country y
Bacon from country x from pigs reared in country y
Country x pork from pigs born in country y
1.4
The terms “Produced in the UK” and “Packed in the UK” can be ambiguous about origin if not qualified and so will not be used in isolation. The country or countries of origin will be clearly stated.
Example
Produced in the UK using pork from country X
Made in the UK using country x and country y pork
Packed in the UK using pork from country x
1.5
Pork products such as sausages, ham and pork pies can sometimes be made with pork from a number of different countries. In such cases the countries of origin will be stated or the EU will be the declared origin
Example
made with pork from country x and country y
made with imported pork
made with pork sourced from the EU
made with pork from a number of EU countries
made with pork from country x, country y or country z
1.6
Statements of origin containing a list of possible countries that includes the UK such as “Produced using pork from country a, b, c or UK” has the potential to mislead consumers that the product could be entirely or predominantly of UK origin. Therefore this will not be used.
1.7
Where national terms and symbols (such as flags or logos containing flags) such as Great British Classics are used as part of the description of processed pork products then this means that the ingredients that characterise the product (such as bacon or the pork in pork pies) and all of the main production/manufacturing processes associated with the product originated within that place or country.
