Luxembourg, 16/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 16 June, the agriculture ministers of the countries of the EU rejected the position of the European Parliament calling for labelling of fresh, refrigerated and frozen meat of porcine, ovine and caprine species plus poultry to be tightened up still further. The EP called for obligatory labelling indicating the country of origin of any unprocessed meat of these species (as is provided for in the legislation on the labelling of beef meat).
The Commission informed the Council of the resolution of the European Parliament of 6 February 2014 on implementing Regulation 1337/2013 as regards the reference to the country of origin or place of provenance of fresh, refrigerated and frozen meats of porcine, ovine and caprine species and poultry (10857/14). The Parliament takes the view that the implementing regulation should go further (than what the regulation provides for, specifically that it should include the place where the animal was raised and the place of slaughter) and also bring in obligatory labelling stating the country of origin of any unprocessed meat, in line with the legislation in force for the labelling of beef meat.
In March of this year, the Commission presented the ministers with a report on the possibility of extending the obligatory indication of origin to all meat used as an ingredient. One of the main conclusions of this report was that consumers are interested in references to the origin of meat, but they are not prepared to pay the extra costs for this labelling. According to the report, the more specific the reference is, the higher the costs will be. At the time of the debate, the Presidency noted that there was still a difference of opinion between the member states as regards the scenarios assessed by the report. Although many delegations stated that they were in favour of bringing in an obligatory indication, a number would prefer the labelling to include an indication of the member state of the EU or the third country in question, whilst others called for an indication stating EU/non-EU origin. However, other delegations pleaded in favour of keeping in place an optional reference to the origin on the label (in other words, the status quo).
At Monday's Agriculture Council, the countries which supported the Commission (and which therefore believe that the EP is going too far) were Ireland, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal. No delegation backed the EP's resolution. (LC)