Marketing inspections

Date published: 1 January, 2015

Onions

The production of fruit and vegetables is an important part of Scotland’s rural economy and food production chain.

The European Union has rules, including marketing standards, for the trade of fresh fruit and vegetables.

These standards aim to provide consumers assurances regarding the quality of produce being sold and the use of accurate labelling to allow for an informed choice.

We are responsible for enforcing these standards through unannounced inspections to traders handling fresh produce.

European Union marketing standards apply to most fresh fruit and vegetables which set out rules relating to labelling, quality, grading and packing requirements.

These rules apply to all stages of the marketing chain from import or packer, through the wholesale and distributive sectors to the final point of retail sale.

The number of inspections undertaken by us is based on risk factors which include trader size, position in the marketing chain and history of non-compliance.

Below you can access the standards for marketing produce that we will check for.

Marketing standards

If we find that marketing standards are not being followed, we will issue a statutory notice of non-compliance and the owner or responsible person will need to make sure that the produce is bought back into conformity with the regulations.

You will have a number of options to take, such as taking action in order to bring produce back into conformity with the regulations.

This may include re-sorting and taking out poor quality produce, or remarking the packaging to show a lower grade, or adding additional information to labels.

Produce may also be sent for industrial processing, animal feed or other non-food use or may be disposed of where none of the other alternatives are available.

Where we find persistent non-compliance with the regulations and the standards, we will investigate further, which may result in legal action.

You can find out more about fruit and vegetable marketing on the Scottish Government website.

Our inspections programme is developed to enforce the following regulations:

Edinburgh office

Horticulture & Marketing Unit
Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA)
A20, Roddinglaw Road
Edinburgh EH12 9FJ

Tel: 0131 244 8923
Fax: 0131 244 8940
Email

Glasgow office

Horticulture & Marketing Unit
Administration Block
Glasgow Fruit Market
Blochairn Road
Glasgow G21 2UW

Tel: 0131 244 1618
Email

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