Brussels, 23/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 23 May, the European Commission was compelled to withdraw its proposals aimed at providing consumers with better information on the origin and quality of olive oil, due to criticism voiced by several northern countries. The main producer countries had supported the measures.
European Agriculture Minister Dacian Ciolos announced his decision to withdraw the draft regulation as it had not received sufficient support during a vote by member states last week. Fifteen states supported it, he explained, but that is not enough for qualified majority. In such a situation, the Commission has the authority to decide what course of action should be taken, he said.
Since Friday, the commissioner went on to say, he has seen and heard several strong positions against a number of ideas in the proposal for a regulation, mainly coming from member states that consume olive oil. It is clear at this stage that the measure, which aims to help consumers, to better inform them and to protect them from anything misleading, is not formulated in a way that harvests broad consumer support, he explained. Consequently, he has decided to withdraw the proposal and not to submit it for adoption.
A front of countries headed by Germany has voted against measures deemed harmful to the catering sector. The most controversial measure was a system of protection to prevent the re-use of olive oil bottles in restaurants after the contents mentioned on the label has been used up - a measure intended to avoid misleading customers.
In the vote on measures in management committee, there were 195 votes in favour (France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Cyprus, Slovenia, Slovakia, Portugal, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Romania, to name but a few), 94 against (Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Bulgaria, Estonia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, etc.) and three abstentions (UK, Belgium and Hungary).
The measures in the project withdrawn were to have taken effect on 1 January 2014. They concerned: 1) the new labelling rules, in particular the obligation of indicating compulsory information (categories of olive oil and origin for extra virgin or virgin categories) in the main visual field on oil bottles; 2) special rules for olive oil made available to customers of the catering sector. The rules on catering, which consist of using “single purpose” bottles (which means bottles must not be refilled once they have been emptied of their contents), aim to ensure the quality and authenticity of oils made available for customers in restaurants. This aims to better protect and inform consumers as well as improve effective control of respect of marketing standards.
New proposal in sight
Ciolos announced his intention to present a new proposal that takes account of all positions, producer countries and consumer countries. He explained that he is working for the general interest and not for the interest of any countries in particular. The decision is a technical one not a political one, argued Ciolos. In order to attain the objectives set out in the action plan for olive oil concerning better quality of olive oil on the European market, in the interest of producers and consumers, Ciolos intends, he says, to meet consumer representatives in coming days, as well as caterers and producers, in order to discuss how best to achieve these goals and identify the best instruments for doing so.
The Commission developed an action plan last July which included measures aimed at quality, quality control and quality promotion, including measures for highlighting quality olive oils in restaurants and avoiding misinformation of consumers. (LC/transl.jl)