A Chichester-based fresh produce retailer has been fined £12,000 after displaying and offering for sale fresh fruit and vegetables that did not comply with the European Community standards for labelling.

Kavanagh Retailing (UK) Limited pleaded guilty to a total of eight separate breaches of European Community marketing standards for fresh horticultural produce on 4 February at Chichester Magistrates’ Court.

DEFRA brought the prosecution against the store trading as Kavanagh’s Budgens at Bepton Road, Midhurst, Sussex, for displaying and offering oranges (Valencia), onions, carrots, turnips, mushrooms (flat and cupped), grapefruit and lemons with labelling defects.

As a result of these breaches, the company was fined £1,500 for each offence making a total fine of £12,000. The prosecution was also awarded full costs of £5,770, giving a total liability of £17,770.

The prosecution followed a series of risk-based enforcement visits and inspections, carried out by the Rural Payments Agency’s Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (HMI), over a one and a half year period between November 2008 and May 2010.

Tony Crouch, head of branch for HMI, said: “The HMI is always supportive to businesses and we go the extra mile to apply a fair and practical approach to enforcing the marketing standards. Our aim is to gain the support and co-operation of fresh produce traders above all else. However, where this approach is not always achievable, the HMI will resort to the use of criminal prosecution to achieve meaningful and lasting compliance.”

In passing sentence, the chair of the magistrates indicated that when setting the level of fine, she took into account the defendant’s guilty plea and the firm’s financial circumstances. She also recognised that the firm had made attempts to put things right, saying that there was a real public concern over food traceability and that the company had fallen short of the expected standards.

Kavanagh (Retailing) (UK) Limited is a small supermarket chain operating in the south coast region trading under the name of Kavanagh’s Budgen’s.

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