UK government minister Steve Barclay is set to launch a consultation on food labelling.

Mr Barclay said that clear food labelling would help to “tackle the unfairness created by misleading labelling”, whilst also backing domestic food production.

In his speech to delegates at the Oxford Farming Conference, Mr Barclay said: “British farmers take pride in producing food that meets and often exceeds, our world-leading animal welfare and environmental standards.

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“British consumers want to buy this top-quality food, but too often products produced to lower standards overseas aren’t clearly labelled to differentiate them.”

In addition, the minister outlined plans to work with major online retailers to make the origin of their food products clearer, including further rollout of ‘Buy British’ sections on supermarket websites.

The move mirrors calls last year by NFUS chief Martin Kennedy at AgriScot.

In November, Mr Kennedy said: “As an industry, we are extremely proud of what we produce and how we produce it, but sadly when it comes to generating a return, it doesn’t stack up.

“A labelling initiative could allow us to better inform our consumers about the origin of all the food and drink they are purchasing and allow them to make informed decisions.

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“I firmly believe that this is where we could see governments and industry working together like never before.

“It is a huge frustration to farmers and crofters when we regularly see our own produce, which has been raised and grown to some of the highest standards, being undermined by imports that often fail to meet our standards of production.”

Mr Kennedy added that the success of any labelling initiative would depend on a UK-wide scheme being in place.

NFU President Minette Batters said: ““We will of course respond to any future government consultation on labelling including how an online Buy British Button can be adopted by more retailers,”

“It is great that Morrisons has already launched this with a ‘British’ section online and we hope that will pave the way for other supermarkets to follow suit.”