Traders
The EU Marketing Rules are enforced in the UK by the Horticultural Marketing Inspection branch of the RPA by virtue of the powers given to it under The Marketing of Fresh Horticultural Produce Regulations 2009.
If you are a trader in fresh fruit and/or vegetables, the regulations require you to comply with the EU Marketing Rules when grading, labelling and even transporting produce. This means that any produce you display, offer for sale, deliver or market in any other manner, must be correctly labelled, displaying all the statutory information, and must be transported in accordance with the legislation.
It is therefore very important that you familiarise yourself with your statutory obligations under the following legislation: The Marketing of Fresh Horticultural Marketing Regulations 2009
Failure to comply with the legislation gives rise to a criminal offence, and whilst the RPA endeavours to assist traders to comply with the law, in some cases, particularly where traders blatantly or persistently fail to meet their obligations, prosecution may be considered.
You can read about the Department's procedures for risk managed enforcement
If you have any queries or are in any doubt as to what your obligations are, you should contact your local Regional Horticultural Marketing Inspector.
Page published: 9 October 2012