3. How is the Welsh Government supporting the marketing of Welsh lamb and beef? OQ57579

The Welsh Government works closely with Hybu Cig Cymru, both in Wales and through our international offices, to support the marketing of Welsh lamb and beef. HCC were a partner at BlasCymru/TasteWales in October 2021, supporting a range of businesses showcasing and marketing meat products.

Thank you, Minister, for your answer. I'd be particularly grateful for an update in regard to improvements on food labelling, working with the industry and the sector and supermarkets in particular. I ask this in the context of new markets being opened for Welsh lamb and beef, particularly as we think of new markets in the United States, for example. Now, we know that we've got high quality produce in Wales, of Welsh lamb and beef, and we also know that farmers pay very high attention to animal welfare. So, how can we sell that, sell brand Wales, knowing that many of these new markets demand high quality, and demand evidence of high quality, when it comes to animal welfare? How can we improve our labelling specifically to help sell brand Wales and Welsh lamb and beef in other new markets around the world?

It is really important that we wave the flag for Wales, and we do that in many guises. I mentioned our international offices. We've got Gulfood coming up in Dubai, I think next week, actually. And HCC will be part of the Welsh Government delegation, or supporting the Welsh Government delegation, in Dubai. We have continued with virtual overseas events, but it will be good to be able to go in person. So, we've got both Anuga and SIAL coming up this year. But we do welcome, obviously, the market being now opened in America. That's something that we've been working on for about six years, so it is very welcome.

And we know that people do look at the labelling, don't they—of course they do. I think one area where we have made huge improvements is marketing Welsh lamb and beef through the Welsh geographical indicators family. We've now got four red meats in that. You'll be aware that we had Gower salt marsh lamb—it was the first, actually, of the UK products in the new UK GI scheme. So, it's very important, and, obviously, that will be on the packaging. In food labelling in general, I think it is really important that, first of all, we don't let trade deals be done by the UK Government that will undermine those very high animal health and welfare standards. So, that is actually something we talked about at the inter-ministerial group that I referred to earlier with DEFRA. So, we are continuing to work on labelling. But I do think it's something that we've done very well, for a long time, and certainly the vision for our Welsh food and drink sector, not just red meat in particular, which I launched back in October, shows that.