Food and farming minister George Eustice has acknowledged there are no guarantees over the future of valuable legal protection for famous Scottish produce such as Orkney cheddar and Stornoway black pudding after Brexit.
The Tory frontbencher said the EU Protected Name Scheme would be a “matter for the negotiations”.
But he also emphasised the importance of the system to a number of other EU countries, who will want the UK to recognise their products when it leaves the bloc.
His comments came in response to SNP MP Deidre Brock’s call for clarification on what would happen once the UK left the EU.
Protected geographical indication (PGI) was introduced by the European Union in 1993, alongside the protected designation of origin and traditional speciality guaranteed schemes.
They provide different levels and types of protection. The delicacies that currently benefit also include Orkney beef, Scottish wild and farmed salmon, native Shetland wool, Shetland lamb and Arbroath Smokies.
In relation to the latter, for example, PGI means the name can only be used to describe haddock smoked in the traditional way within a five-mile radius of Arbroath.
In a written parliamentary question, Ms Brock, the party’s spokeswoman on devolved government relations, asked how ministers would ensure these provisions after the UK left the EU.
Mr Eustice recognised the schemes had helped promote heritage food products and speciality recipes, including many from Scotland.
He said the government was considering options to enable ongoing protections for UK designations after Brexit.
He added: “The scheme is also very important to a number of other EU countries who will want the UK to agree to recognise their protected food names in the UK market after we leave the EU.”
But he acknowledged it would be a “matter for negotiations.”
Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael complained that, a year after Brexit, it was still not clear how the continued protection of these “crucial local products” would be managed.
The Liberal Democrat former Scottish secretary added: “When we think about things that flow automatically from EU membership, we think about the big-ticket items like farm subsidies and structural funds for infrastructure.
“In fact, the legal protection of identity for local products such as Shetland lamb and Orkney beef is also massively important to the businesses that grow, process and sell these things.”