Supermarkets too often confuse the consumer with unclear country-of-origin labelling, a new report has claimed.

Morrisons minted lamb, Sainsbury's lamb roast and Waitrose's beef stifado ready meals were among lines deemed not to be clearly labelled, along with Asda Go Cook beef and Tesco ham.

However Sainsbury's chicken thigh fillets, Tesco and Waitrose beef, and Asda and Co-op lamb, among others, were considered clearly labelled.

Only 40% of the 50 packs examined in a consumer survey for an NFU report by the MLC were deemed to clearly communicate country of origin, with 36% said to be "confusing".

Half of the consumers questioned were concerned about country of origin, while 74% wanted to see the country of origin on pack. Forty five per cent also claimed to actively look for the country of origin. Some 23% said the retailer was all the assurance they needed.

Asda had the highest proportion of non-British pre-packed beef on shelf (31%), followed by Somerfield (23%), Sainsbury's (18%), Tesco (9%) and Morrisons (6%), though the latter has since joined Budgens, the Co-op, M&S and Waitrose in sourcing all its beef from Britain.

Some 23.5% of all chilled lamb is imported from New Zealand, with the rest home-produced.

The report also examined the structure of meat retailing, as well as the three basic tiers - value, standard and premium, adding two further categories, standard-plus and super-premium.

The former encourages consumers to trade up to better quality, while the latter offers even higher quality at a greater price.

These categories are complemented by healthy and organic.

The report blamed fierce price competition among retailers for preventing price rises that could lead to higher returns for farmers.

National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall said he hoped the report would lead to stronger ties and better understanding between supermarkets and farmers.

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