France To Trial Origin Labeling Of Dairy And Meat Ingredients From January 2017

13 Jul 2016 --- The body representing Europe’s food and drink manufacturing industry has slammed a decision to allow France to experiment with the mandatory labeling of meat and dairy ingredients.

The European Commission has given the go-ahead for France to test labeling of origin for milk and meat ingredients in food and drinks, with the two-year trial period expected to come into force next January.

It means food and drinks containing meat and dairy will list exactly where those ingredients came from.

But FoodDrinkEurope says although the test is only for France, it will have an immediate affect on the market such as pushing up prices, because it disregards the European single market.

“FoodDrinkEurope deeply regrets the decision by the European Commission to allow French authorities to introduce a two-year trial period for the mandatory labeling of origin for milk and meat ingredients in foods,” says a statement.

“Whilst the initiative is framed as a test and applies only to France, it is a mandatory measure which will have an immediate market impact, with considerable negative consequences for producers and consumers, namely burdensome changes in the supply chain, difficulties in the labeling process and higher prices.”

“Moreover, of crucial importance in today’s context for Europe, this protectionist measure also sets an irreversible precedent for the fragmentation of the EU Single Market for foods and drinks. By accepting the pilot proposed by France, the Commission implicitly accepts that there is a quality difference between French produce and, for example, Belgian, German, Italian, and Spanish produce, even if sourced only a few kilometers across the border.”

The organization goes onto say how the French pilot will lead to increased food waste, higher consumer prices and is criticizing the Commission for failing to inform stakeholders of the evidence that France should have provided to demonstrate a link between certain qualities of the food and its origin or provenance.

FoodDrinksEurope points out that keeping this process transparent is a legal requirement under the Food Information to Consumers Regulation and is calling on political leaders at national and EU level to promote the high quality of European foods and drinks on an international scale, rather create obstacles within the single market.

European Dairy Association (EDA) secretary general Alexander Anton, also believes the French move goes against the principles of the single market.

“The French draft decree on mandatory origin labeling has been approved by the EU Commission - and the European Commission clearly failed to protect the single market principle, which is from a political point of view a worst case scenario for the Union, he says.

“We have seen the French proposal going viral across Europe, the Italian government has already notified a draft decree, and others will certainly follow the French example. This translates as the end of the single market principle for milk and dairy products.

“We are proud of the many dairies in border regions, most of which are rather small companies that have up to five EU Member States in their milk collection area. They live from the single market in producing high quality milk and dairy with milk from their geographical region, even if national borders go through their milk collection area. This will now be made very complicated, if not impossible.”

by Gaynor Selby