The requirements for medicines labelling are set out in both European and national legislation. There is no requirement for medicines labelling to indicate the country of origin. Labelling is required to indicate the company authorised to place the product on the market in the United Kingdom. There are no plans to amend the legislation to require country of origin details to be included in labelling requirements.

The Government's policy in relation to Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem is quite clear: those settlements are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve.

Under current legislation there is no mandatory requirement for goods produced in settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to be labelled as such. Where specific EU legislation in the food sectors requires the country of origin to be indicated the Government believes that “Produce of The West Bank” is a lawful description of the origin of such goods (no food or drink of East Jerusalem provenance is imported into the United Kingdom). The West Bank is a recognised geographical area within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

So far as food and drink of West Bank origin imported into the UK is concerned, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has issued voluntary technical advice for the benefit of those importers and retailers who believe that their customers wish to distinguish between products of Israeli settlement provenance and those which originate from Palestinian growers.

[holding answer 4 July 2012]: We have not taken steps to raise awareness of the difference between country of origin and country of manufacture.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not make assessments or collect commercial data on retail sales of individual product lines, or products with certain characteristics such as origin labelling. We consider this a commercial decision for the retailers concerned.

The coalition Government has strong reservations about the European Commission Proposal on Regulation for the indication of the country of origin on certain products imported from third countries. We are not satisfied of the need for such a mandatory system, its cost to business and Government and the absence of any objective criteria for determining product scope. The UK supports a voluntary labelling approach. We welcome the practice of many producers and retailers in providing a country of origin mark on their products.

Such positive country of origin marking takes place because business believes it is the right thing to do for themselves and their customers. It does not involve a regulatory or cost burden imposed by Government.

After a number of discussions in the Commercial Questions Council Working Group during 2011, especially during the first half of the year, the proposal was last discussed in January this year. As a result we currently await a discussion paper from the European Commission on the possibility of a voluntary origin marking regime.

Coalition Ministers have had no meetings on this issue. Nor have BIS officials met recently with Commission officials outside of the Council Working Group discussions.

The coalition Government has strong reservations about the European Commission Proposal on Regulation for the indication of the country of origin on certain products imported from third countries. We are not satisfied of the need for such a mandatory system, its cost to business and Government and the absence of any objective criteria for determining product scope. The UK supports a voluntary labelling approach. We welcome the practice of many producers and retailers in providing a country of origin mark on their products.

Such positive country of origin marking takes place because business believes it is the right thing to do for themselves and their customers. It does not involve a regulatory or cost burden imposed by Government.

After a number of discussions in the Commercial Questions Council Working Group during 2011, especially during the first half of the year, the proposal was last discussed in January this year. As a result we currently await a discussion paper from the European Commission on the possibility of a voluntary origin marking regime.

Coalition Ministers have had no meetings on this issue. Nor have BIS officials met recently with Commission officials outside of the Council Working Group discussions.

The coalition Government has strong reservations about the European Commission Proposal on Regulation for the indication of the country of origin on certain products imported from third countries. We are not satisfied of the need for such a mandatory system, its cost to business and Government and the absence of any objective criteria for determining product scope. The UK supports a voluntary labelling approach. We welcome the practice of many producers and retailers in providing a country of origin mark on their products.

Such positive country of origin marking takes place because business believes it is the right thing to do for themselves and their customers. It does not involve a regulatory or cost burden imposed by Government.

After a number of discussions in the Commercial Questions Council Working Group during 2011, especially during the first half of the year, the proposal was last discussed in January this year. As a result we currently await a discussion paper from the European Commission on the possibility of a voluntary origin marking regime.

Coalition Ministers have had no meetings on this issue. Nor have BIS officials met recently with Commission officials outside of the Council Working Group discussions.

The coalition Government has strong reservations about the European Commission Proposal on Regulation for the indication of the country of origin on certain products imported from third countries. We are not satisfied of the need for such a mandatory system, its cost to business and Government and the absence of any objective criteria for determining product scope. The UK supports a voluntary labelling approach. We welcome the practice of many producers and retailers in providing a country of origin mark on their products.

Such positive country of origin marking takes place because business believes it is the right thing to do for themselves and their customers. It does not involve a regulatory or cost burden imposed by Government.

After a number of discussions in the Commercial Questions Council Working Group during 2011, especially during the first half of the year, the proposal was last discussed in January this year. As a result we currently await a discussion paper from the European Commission on the possibility of a voluntary origin marking regime.

Coalition Ministers have had no meetings on this issue. Nor have BIS officials met recently with Commission officials outside of the Council Working Group discussions.