Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme: Labelling requirements

Last updated: 28 March 2025

Individual labels are required on:

• all prepacked meat and meat products (meat packed for the final consumer)
• meat packed on sales premises
• some dairy products

Prepacked meat and meat products

‘Meat’ is defined as the edible parts of any animal intended for human consumption.

‘Meat products’ are meat that has been substantially altered by processing. This includes by heating, smoking, curing, maturing, drying, marinating, extraction, extrusion or a combination of those processes.

Meat includes but is not limited to all fresh and frozen meats, such as:

• pork, including bacon, sausages, joints
• beef, including mince, joints, steaks, diced braising meat, burgers
• chicken, including whole, breasts, fillets, diced meat, thighs, shredded chicken, sausages
• lamb, including steaks, leg, shoulder, diced braising meat
• duck meat, venison, other game meats
• other similar meat and meat preparations
• exotic meats
• products which consist of animal fats, including gelatine or animal blood

Meat products include:

• chicken nuggets, chicken dippers, other breaded and battered chicken products, chicken wings and breasts in sauce (except where these are determined to be a composite product)
• burgers, minced meats, sliced red meats, sausages including cocktail sausages
• pâtés and similar meat-based spreads
• duck and goose fats

These products could be fresh, chilled, frozen, deep-frozen or thawed.

Meat packed on sales premises

This is meat that is prepared and packed before sale to a consumer, such as:

• meat and animal origin products that are butchered on site, packaged and sold on the shop floor, such as cuts of steak or lamb, fresh poultry or cuts of game
• meat products that are processed and packaged on site, such as fresh mince products or burgers
• meat on supermarket deli or butcher counters where the product is packaged before sale

Some dairy products (including both prepacked and packed on sales premises)

This includes: 

• pasteurised milk, buttermilk, or cream products 
• cottage cheese, quark cheese or raw ​​(unpasteurised) cheese
• crème fraiche and sour cream

Compound products

Compound products are products that contain:

• more than one product of animal origin (POAO)
• no plant products other than those for flavouring

Compound products are included in phase 1 if they contain products in the phase 1 list. For example, a pâté that has a duck and a dairy product, or a steak with a butter pellet. Both contain meat and dairy as the main ingredients and a small amount of plant products for flavour. They are therefore compound products and part of phase 1. Find out how to identify compound products.

Commodity codes for products included in phase 1

You can also use the lists of commodity codes to confirm which products need labels in phase 1.