A group of EU countries backed Germany and Austria's bid to extend mandatory origin labeling to a wider range of food products at an EU Council meeting, despite existing concerns about market disruption and higher prices for consumers.
Berlin and Vienna were supported by the delegations of eleven member states at the meeting of EU agriculture ministers, where they called on the European Commission to come up with a proposal to include more foods in the mandatory indication of origin, reports Euractiv.
"Existing EU regulations are not yet sufficient to achieve transparency and sustainability goals. Extending the bloc's rules on mandatory origin labeling could help consumers choose products with shorter transport distances and supply chains," Germany and Austria insisted.
Currently, the EU only requires labeling of the origin of certain foods, such as eggs, fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil and certain types of meat.
Some member states – including France, Finland, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Spain – have in the past approved their own labeling requirements for other products, citing the right of consumers to make informed decisions about their food choices .
As part of the bloc's flagship food policy, Farm to Fork, in 2020 the EU executive promised to consider extending mandatory origin labeling to more products, as part of a comprehensive review of the EU regulation on the provision of information on food for consumers (FIC).
However, such a proposal has not yet been tabled.
"We continue to gather evidence and data, particularly on the impact of food labeling on food business operators, consumer prices, consumer behavior and the internal market," said Financial Stability Commissioner Maraid McGuinness.
She described origin labeling as a "sensitive topic" on which there is no consensus and which will depend on the next president of the European Commission after the EU elections in June.
Still separated
"The origin of food is increasingly important to many people in Europe," said Austrian Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig.
His Spanish counterpart, Luis Planas, called for a "harmonised approach" to origin labeling across the bloc, adding that the EU's move to improve transparency on the origin of honey earlier this year showed the way forward.
However, others have warned of the potential unintended consequences of such a change, including increased competition between farmers from different EU member states, a higher administrative burden for food producers and a potential rise in food prices.
Irish Agriculture Minister Charlie McConnalogh expressed concern about ensuring the smooth functioning of the single market and said origin was "not always the key factor".
Poland and Bulgaria acknowledged the importance of the topic, but stressed the need for an "impact assessment" to weigh the pros and cons of origin labelling.
A patchwork of national measures
In the last decade, at least eight EU countries have introduced national mandatory labeling schemes for certain food products, which are permitted under the FIC Regulation if justified by specific reasons such as consumer protection.
In particular, France, Italy and Greece applied in 2016 to make the origin of milk mandatory on the labels of milk and milk products. Spain followed suit a year later.
Others, such as Finland, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania, have also adopted national food origin labeling schemes.
Although such measures were welcomed by consumer and farmer organizations in the countries, they were not without controversy.
Following a ruling by the Court of Justice in March 2021, France's top court overturned the national milk labeling measure, saying Paris had failed to prove a link between the product's origin and its properties – as required by EU rules.