Britain's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is prepared to initiate legal action against the Co-Op supermarket if it continues to defy EU regulations by selling produce below the minimum size. Officials from DEFRA, which enforces the regulations, said yesterday they did not want to be "heavy-handed" but the department would mount legal action against the Co-Op "as a last resort" if it continued selling non-regulation peaches.
Legal action against Co-Op would be a "last resort", a DEFRA official said, pointing out that the supermarket "is not a habitual law-breaker".
Co-Op is selling the peaches in three stores in London, Manchester and Beith (Scotland) to test consumer support. It is risking a fine of £5,000 in defiance of what it says is a "bizarre" EU regulation which stipulates that peaches sold between July and October 30th must be a minimum of 56 mm in diameter.
The regulations were introduced to prevent sub-standard produce flooding the market, but the Co-Op insists the rules discriminate against organic farmers, who often produce smaller-sized fruit and vegetables.
Mr Martin Henderson, a spokesman for the Co-Op, said the supermarket would talk to DEFRA but planned to sell the peaches until it ran out of stock. The Co-Op has also announced that it is banning more than 20 pesticides used in food production, including six used in Britain. Urging the government, the EU, the agrochemical industry and other retailers to embark on a "radical rethink" of pesticide use, it said it was responding to flagging consumer confidence in food by banning pesticides where there was doubt about its safety.