Brussels, 26/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - In order to reassure consumers in the midst of the horsemeat fraud scandal, France and Germany have called on the European Commission to speed up the publication of the report initially scheduled for the end of 2013 on the possibility of bringing in labelling for the origin of meat in processed products (ready meals), at the Agriculture Council of Monday 25 February (see EUROPE 10793). Tonio Borg, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, replied that he would do all in his power to ensure that his services publish this report in the autumn, with a possible view to presenting proposals by the end of the year.
Supported by, amongst others, Finland, the United Kingdom, Austria and Portugal, the French and German agriculture ministers requested that this report, which will assess the feasibility of origin labelling in meat in processed products, be presented this summer so that legislative proposals to tighten up the current rules can be discussed before the end of the year. “Of course, labels will not prevent fraud. But the further we go in labelling, the less room for manoeuvre we will leave to the fraudsters”, said the French minister, Stéphane Le Foll. France would like to set in place a joint work platform with Germany to prepare a draft regulation which could go beyond beef alone. Paris also proposes to work on a trader accreditation system.
At a press conference, Commissioner Borg said that the Commission would speed up its timetable so as to be able to present the said report in late summer or early autumn. This will allow the Commission to make any proposal on the labelling of the origin of meat in processed products by the end of 2013.
Nevertheless, the commissioner stressed several times that the horsemeat scandal was not caused by a problem of labelling, but by a large-scale fraud. A number of ministers also stressed that the calls to tighten up product labelling aimed to reassure the customer, and had nothing to do with the horsemeat crisis. (LC/transl.fl)