Eat Europe warmly welcomes the initiative presented today by Austria, France and Italy – and supported by several EU Countries – during the AGRIFISH Council discussion on strengthening the European framework for mandatory origin labelling of food products.

Transparency and consumer trust are core principles for Eat Europe and must be pursued without compromise. In this regard, today’s messages finally provide a clear indication of the path forward: a targeted revision of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 to extend mandatory origin labelling to all food products, including the primary ingredient of composite foods, by requiring the indication on labels of the place of provenance, understood as the place where the agricultural product or primary ingredient was cultivated or raised.

This is not — as some continue to argue in order to delay the decision once again — about creating additional administrative burdens or unnecessary costs. On the contrary, it is about strengthening awareness of the importance of local, seasonal and natural food, while addressing the growing impact of ultra-formulated foods and generating additional sources of income for European farmers.

Only through a fully transparent value chain can we improve farmers’ conditions and protect the health of European consumers.

“It is incomprehensible that some organisations claiming to represent the interests of primary producers continue to defend the empty and misleading ‘EU/non-EU’ origin labelling system, which provides no added value to farmers and no meaningful information to consumers,” said Luigi Scordamaglia, President of Eat Europe.

Eat Europe therefore calls on the European institutions to act without delay through all necessary regulatory amendments in order to deliver a harmonised framework that has been awaited for far too many years. This is fully consistent with Commissioner Hansen’s Vision for Food and Agriculture and increasingly necessary in light of the clear and growing demands of European consumers.