9th March 2021
Europeans want to know more about where their food comes from. Would mandatory country of origin labelling mean consumers make more sustainable food choices?
Under EU and UK law, there is currently mandatory requirement to declare the Country of Origin (COO) for fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, eggs, wine, spirit drinks, fish, beef, beef products and unprocessed meat from pigs, sheep, goats and poultry. However, the EU are working on a proposal that may require COO declarations on additional food products.
You can read the full article HERE
Food Labelling Services comments:
There are several conditions where the COO should be declared on a product label. This includes the mandatory food categories, and if a pack design would mislead the consumer as tot he true country of origin. In addition, Commission implementing regulation (EU) 2018/775 of 28 May 2018 on Primary Ingredient labelling, which came into force on 1st April 2020 applies if the origin of the product or place of provenance, declared mandatorily or voluntarily, is different to the primary ingredient.
There is already inconsistency in COO labelling across the EU, with countries such a France demanding stricter COO labelling. The UK is outside of the EU juristriction, but will have to consider any amends that the EU implement to ensure that exports comply to the regulations.