Handled with care: EU farm ministers have backed an idea to stamp meat and dairy products made from humanely treated animals with an EU "welfare" label.

Such a label, agriculture ministers said, could make European exports more competitive but also run the risk of putting off consumers in home markets due to extra costs to industry which would be passed down the retail chain. Ireland expressed concern that technical requirements might restrict the EU's livestock production and processing industries - and possibly encourage cheaper imports from countries with lower welfare standards.