At the ‘Agriculture’ Council of the EU on Monday 16 December in Brussels, the ministers of Spain, France, Greece, Italy and Portugal called for an amendment to European legislation on the labelling of the origin of agricultural and food products (see EUROPE 12390/10).
The agriculture ministers of these countries are calling for a strengthening of European legislation on the labelling of the origin of foodstuffs and food ingredients and are awaiting proposals from the Commission in this area. "The current legislation does not provide anything for the raw ingredients of processed products", said French Minister Didier Guillaume.
He therefore considered that "the current legislation is incomplete; it must be strengthened to better meet consumer expectations", he added. He expects "a lot from the Commission's new food strategy, which should be unveiled in spring 2020, to increase consumer information on the origin of products". France has requested legislative proposals.
The Spanish Minister Luis Planas Puchades also considered it important to ensure the sustainability and traceability of products. Spain has provisions on the origin of milk and is working on a law on the labelling of the origin of honey. "There is a legal vacuum at community level to be filled by the Commission", he stressed.
Italian Minister Teresa Bellanova called for European legislation to provide mandatory labelling on the origin of agricultural products. She requested to postpone by one year the entry into force of Regulation 2018/775 on the indication of the origin of the primary ingredient in foodstuffs (applicable from 1 April 2020) in order to integrate several products (milk, cheese, pasta, rice, tomatoes) into the Regulation on compulsory labelling of the origin of certain products. Cyprus and Slovenia supported the request of these countries.
Austria has shown itself to be "in favour" of harmonising rules on the origin of products. Poland has also requested harmonisation of the rules in this area, but with certain national labelling rules (potatoes).
Belgium, more cautious on the subject, asked to keep the internal market functioning properly. Hungary asked to examine the tests made in this area and to maintain the unity of the internal market. The indication of the origin of honey products must be harmonised, the Hungarian Minister stressed.
German Minister Julia Klöckner asked to assess the labelling situation, but she said that this should not end up as "a withdrawal into national interests" and that clarity in the labelling of origin is needed. For Denmark, the current rules are sufficient. "We must be careful and avoid an unnecessary burden or even an increase in product prices", the Danish minister added.
The Netherlands and Sweden have also been cautious and have requested an analysis by the Commission of the tests carried out, in particular in France. Ireland believes that the rules of the single market must be respected. The Czech Republic considered that it was necessary to "think twice" before introducing new rules, except perhaps in the case of honey.
The Commission ready to discuss this. Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides acknowledged that this is a "sensitive issue" and recalled that consumers now want more transparency about the products they consume. She stressed that she "expected" Member States to evaluate the ‘pilot projects’ launched. She noted that there were more and more national measures on origin labelling; "this is not a sustainable solution", she said. "We need a long-term solution at European level to protect the proper functioning of the internal market", the Commissioner said. The Commission's 'farm to fork' strategy will provide an opportunity to return to the issue of product origin, Stella Kyriakides promised. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)