Many years of lobbying by the Farmers' Union of Wales for meat to be properly labelled with its country of origin has taken a major step forward, the union claimed today.
"We welcome the new proposals by EU ministers to introduce a draft regulation to extend the compulsory beef labelling system operating since 2002 to include lamb, pork and chicken," said FUW president Gareth Vaughan.
The ministers have also called on the EC to report on the possible extension of compulsory country of origin labelling to further products such as milk, milk used as an ingredient, meat used as an ingredient, unprocessed foods, single ingredient products, and ingredients that represent more than 50% of a food.
The FUW stepped up its country of origin labelling campaign in 2004 after members discovered Argentinian rump steak - displaying the British flag and British farm standards logo - on sale at a Bangor supermarket and Brazilian beef being sold in a newly-opened supermarket at Bala.
FUW deputy president Emyr Jones, who rears Welsh Black cattle near Bala, led a delegation of farmers to meet the area manager at the new store to explain how angry they felt.
And last August the FUW described the news that Welsh lamb was being routinely mis-sold on the menus of North Wales eateries as a significant step backwards in the promotion of quality Welsh produce.
Of the 244 restaurants, pubs, takeaways and hotels, targeted by a Trading Standards Probe, a staggering 50 per cent were unable to identify the origin of products which were being described and sold as "Welsh lamb".
Mr Vaughan said: "Welsh livestock farmers have good reasons to want accurate and unambiguous labelling of Welsh beef and lamb but in the past few years we have identified a number of examples of mislabelling of imported meat which could have tarnished the quality image of food produced in Wales.
"Welsh farmers are proud of their produce and the high welfare, sustainability and environmental ethics they adopt. The FUW has worked hard to promote home-grown produce and our long-standing and successful 'Buy the Welsh One' campaign reflects our commitment to the Welsh farming industry."