EU Reports Now Knock Plans for Country of Origin Labelling

Following on from last week’s news that the World Trade Organization had thrown out the US plans for Country of Origin Labelling of meat, the European Commission received two reports that equally poured cold water on plans for similar measures.

The two reports from the European Commission conclude that the benefits from new mandatory country of origin labelling requirements on food do not clearly outweigh the costs.

The reports say that voluntary labelling rules seem to be the most suitable solution.

The first report looks at the feasibility of different options for mandatory origin labelling for dairy products and for minor meats, notably horse meat, rabbit meat and meat from game and birds (farmed and wild).

Labelling rules are already in place for beef meat, pig meat, poultry meat, sheep meat and goat meat.

The report says that considering consumer attitudes towards additional information and potential extra costs, as well as any technical and administrative requirements arising for businesses and public authorities, for dairy products there would be an uneven impact on producers, making it more burdensome for some than for others.

The news disappointed the dairy industry body Dairy UK, whose chief executive, Dr Judith Bryans, said: “We are disappointed to see that the Commission report found that voluntary Country of Origin Labelling may be a more suitable option for dairy products than a mandatory system.

“There is obvious consumer demand for clearer information on the country of origin of food products as illustrated by the existing rules for fresh meat within the Food Information to Consumers Regulation. Therefore, it makes sense to take the next step and introduce these requirements for milk and milk used as an ingredient in dairy products.”

The second report explored the need for consumers to be informed on the origin of unprocessed foods, single ingredient products and ingredients that represent more than 50 per cent of a food.

It concludes that consumers are interested in origin labelling for all these food categories, but less so for food categories such as meat, meat products and dairy products.

Meanwhile in the US the arguments continue between politicians and within industry groups over the World Trade Organization decision.

There are still fears that there could be retaliatory action against the US but there has already been a move to repeal the measure within the House.