GovWire

Fresh fruit and vegetables at all stages of production and marketing must meet quality and labelling requirements. These are called marketing standards.

The marketing standards also apply to salad crops, nuts and cultivated mushrooms.

Individuals and businesses at all stages of production and marketing must follow rules to meet marketing standards, including:

• packers
• growers
• distributors
• wholesalers
• retailers
• importers
• exporters

The 2 sets of marketing standards are the:

• Specific Marketing Standard (SMS) for 10 types of fresh produce
• General Marketing Standard (GMS) for most other fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and herbs

If youre exporting goods that are covered by Specific Marketing Standards (SMS) from Great Britain you will need a certificate of conformity. Importing countries may occasionally ask for a certificate of conformity for GMS goods as well.

Specific Marketing Standard (SMS)

The SMS includes quality and labelling rules that your products must comply with at each stage of production and marketing.

The SMS applies to:

• apples (PDF, 628 KB, 15 pages)
• table grapes (PDF, 202 KB, 6 pages)
• kiwi fruit (PDF, 218 KB, 6 pages)
• citrus fruit (including oranges, lemons and fruit thats easy to peel) (PDF, 279 KB, 10 pages)
• peaches and nectarines (PDF, 221 KB, 6 pages)
• pears (PDF, 337 KB, 10 pages)
• strawberries (PDF, 193 KB, 5 pages)
• lettuces (including curly green and broad leaves that are eaten uncooked in salads) (PDF, 132 KB, 6 pages)
• sweet peppers (PDF, 205 KB, 6 pages)
• tomatoes (PDF, 224 KB, 7 pages)

You must not sell SMS products that do not meet these requirements.

You must make sure your SMS products are graded based on their quality:

• extra class superior quality produce thats regular in shape and appearance with only very slight defects
• class I good quality produce that has minor defects to the skin or shape
• class II reasonably good quality produce that may have one or more defects such as some bruising, damage or change in colour

You can grade SMS products (apart from lettuce) as extra class if they meet the relevant requirements.

If you sell SMS products, you must check that the produce meets the class requirements.

If produce deteriorates, you should not sell it. If it meets the requirements for a lower quality class, change the labelling to display that class.

For more information on SMS quality requirements and defects allowed for different products:

• email phsi-importers@apha.gov.uk
• phone 0300 1000 313

Labelling requirements to meet the SMS

The label on all packages of SMS produce (including pre-packed produce) must include:

• quality class
• country of origin in full (do not use abbreviations or flags)
• variety or type (if required)
• size, weight range or number of items (see each standard for exact requirements)
• net weight or the number of items (unless the number can be clearly seen)
• the name and address of the grower or dispatcher, or an authorised code mark you can use an official grower or packer code number, the name and full address of the packer or dispatcher, or a global gap number (GGN)

If you require an official grower or pack code number, contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency Centre for International Trade (APHA CIT) on 0300 1000 313.

Loose SMS produce: labelling rules for retailers

You must display loose SMS produce with clear labelling showing the:

• country of origin in full (do not use abbreviations or flags)
• quality class
• variety or type (if required)

You can use terms such as local produce or home grown as well as the origin information (for example, Class I, locally grown English Braeburn apples). Do not use these terms on their own for country of origin information.

Examples of labelling you can use to show the variety of produce i

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