Obligatory origin labelling is unnecessary

The European Parliament has approved a resolution concerning obligatory origin labelling. The N-VA delegation voted against it. “Apparently, the majority of European Parliament members believe that an obligatory statement regarding the origin of milk in a carton of yoghurt or meat used in lasagne improves the quality of those products, fights fraud, protects employment and restores consumer confidence. However, the opposite is true,” European Parliament member Mark Demesmaeker warns.

“Obligatory origin labelling reeks of protectionism, is diametrically opposed to the principles of the unified European market and is mainly to the disadvantage of border regions and smaller export-focused regions such as Flanders,” according to Mark Demesmaeker. “The facts are crystal-clear,” he emphasises, “origin labelling indicates the origin, but does not increase quality or traceability, nor does it prevent fraud. Operational and practical feasibility also add to the burden, as are the additional administrative costs and expenses that finally lead to a higher price for the consumer. Research for example shows that in case of a price increase of 5 to 9 percent, the consumer is clearly less prepared to pay for origin information.”

Need for more realism

A year ago, parliament approved a resolution with a similar aim, which called on the European Commission to propose legislation. The European Commission’s response was clear cut: obligatory origin labelling for meat as an ingredient is not the correct approach and therefore legislation to this end is not necessary. “The Commission was right: voluntary origin labelling is currently already being applied cost-efficiently. We must continue in that direction instead of putting up an unnecessary extra obstacle for our SMEs. Parliament would have been better off by demonstrating more realism,” Mark Demesmaeker states.