Brussels, 28/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission is expected to adopt a communication aimed at launching the debate on a Community approach towards eco-labelling schemes for fisheries products. The document sets out three options (non-action, creating a single Community eco-labelling scheme, and establishing minimum requirements). In the light of the results of these consultations, the Commission may present legislative proposals. An eco-labelling programme allows a product to bear a distinctive logo or statement by way of which consumers are assured that the product has been produced according to a given set of environmental standards (such as the sustainability of the resource used as the raw material, the environmental impact of the production method, or the possibility of recycling the product). At the present time, the industrial and forestry sectors possess a large variety of certification and eco-labelling schemes. The Community's own eco-label award scheme covers some 20 industrial product groups but does not apply to food products, drinks and medicines.
The communication sets out three options for fisheries products: 1) Non-action: Eco-labelling schemes could then continue to develop freely on the market, without any intervention on the part of the public sector. Up to now, the Community has not initiated any measures in this field. Without the guarantee of independent accreditation and certification, the reliability of these programmes would be subject to caution, the Commission believes. 2) A single Community eco-labelling scheme: This ambitious option does not meet with the Commission's favour. The fact that many fish stocks within Community waters are outside biological safety limits would give rise to a situation where a reference to “sustainable exploitation” could be to the advantage of products imported from countries that have long used the precautionary approach for managing their stocks, the Commission explains. 3) Minimum requirements for voluntary eco-labelling schemes: The Commission supports this option that will above all have the advantage of setting up a “safety net” of essential conditions to avoid the risk of trade distortion or misinformation.
Supermarket chains and distribution companies show a growing interest for food produced under sustainable development considerations. Some products without eco-labelling have thus found their way onto the market:
- “dolphin-safe/dolphin-friendly” labelled tuna (by an international dolphin conservation programme (AIDCP), a multilateral regional fisheries organisation);
- and the Marine Stewardship Council eco-labelling scheme created in 1997 by the Unilever group and World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), but which has now become a private initiative (to date, ten fisheries, of which four are European, have received this certification). There are a growing number of other private initiatives comprising environmental allegations whose credibility is not always easy to determine, the Commission states. At international level, in the context of the FAO, the discussion on eco-labelling began in 1997 but little progress has been made so far, essentially because of fears that eco-labelling could create barriers to trade. Furthermore, discussions were held within the WTO but the debate has not yet come to any conclusions.