By Rory Harrington

The European Parliament has backed proposals to extend country of origin labelling (COOL) to all meat, poultry and fish and dairy products.

MEPs also said they wanted the country of origin to be specified for all meat, poultry and fish when used as an ingredient in processed foods – in a move that is sure to spark heated debate among industry players.

The decision came as lawmakers in Strasbourg yesterday adopted draught legislation covering a slew of issues on food labelling in the European Union. The parliament said mandatory nutritional information and guideline daily amounts should be included on labels but rejected a proposal for 'traffic light' values to highlight the salt, sugar and fat content of processed foods.

Country of Origin
Under the current law, COOL labelling is only compulsory for some products such as beef, honey, olive oil and fresh fruit and vegetables. But yesterday MEPs supported broadening this to include all meat, poultry, dairy products and other single-ingredient products.

More controversially, the Parliament also called for the extension of COOL for meat, poultry and fish when used as a processed food ingredient. Concerns have previously been raised that such a proposal could prove unworkable and impractical for food processors which could be forced to constantly alter their labels. Opponents have branded the idea protectionist.

These anxieties were reflected yesterday as a group of MEPs called for an impact assessment into the measures to evaluate whether they were practical and desirable. But it was still unclear today if the impact assessment would be included as the European Parliament told FoodProductionDaily.com officials were still trying to decide what had been agreed.

Technical Issues
The UK Food and Drink Federation welcome yesterday’s vote but said there were a number of practical issues that needed to be resolved.

“There are still plenty of technical issues that need to be addressed including the proposed rules on country of origin labelling, which we hope will be designed in a way that ensures consumers are not misled without adding unnecessary regulatory burdens on industry," said Barbara Gallani, director of food safety and science.

The Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers said its members welcomed the proposals as a means of providing consumers with greater clarity on product origin.

The spokesman acknowledged that the measure regarding ingredients for processed foods could cause practical difficulties but said it was rarely clear how such systems would operate in practice.

“But there are other schemes governing product provenance that function well,” he added. “Besides, a lot more work needs to be done before any such measures come into force.”

The parliament said forecast no “quick agreement” with the European Council and expected the bill to return to the chamber for a second reading. Once the legislation is adopted, lager food business will have three years to implement the rules, while those with fewer than 100 employees and an annual turnover under €5m, will have five years to comply.

Source: Food Production Daily 

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