To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to regulate the meat industry, in particular in respect of false labelling.

The fundamental principle established in food labelling law is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead. It is unacceptable for consumers to have been misled in the way uncovered by recent events. If undeclared equine and/or porcine DNA is found in beef products (eg beef burgers), there are possible offences under:

Section 15 of the Food Safety Act 1990;the Food Labelling Regulations 1996;the Meat Products (England) Regulations 2003 (and parallel legislation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland);the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs); andRegulation 4(c) of the General Food Regulations 2004 making it an offence to contravene Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.

Local authorities and port health authorities undertake thousands of analyses each year to enforce food labelling rules. If samples analysed are found not to be in line with legal requirements, follow-up investigations will be made and further enforcement action may be taken depending on the findings of the investigation, and any due diligence defence.

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has regular discussions with Simon Coveney, the Irish Minister for Food, Agriculture and the Marine. He is working closely with his counterparts in Ireland, and across Europe to ensure that the current unacceptable situation with horsemeat cannot happen again. This includes a one month programme of DNA testing of beef products across the EU covering domestic and imported products, results of which need to be submitted to the European Commission on 15 April.