The EU Court of Justice has ruled on the case of Lactalis vs. French Republic, on 1.10.20, confirming the legitimacy of national regulations requiring the origin labeling of raw materials on certain categories of food. Under the conditions set forth in reg. EU 1169/11(Food Information Regulation, FIC), referred to below.
Origin labeling of milk in dairy products. Current standards in France and Italy
In France and Italy, a requirement has been introduced to indicate the origin of milk on the label of pre-packaged dairy products (e.g., milk, butter, yogurt, mozzarella, cheese and other dairy products) made and sold on their respective national territories. By means of special decrees, ritually notified to the European Commission, introduced ‘on an experimental basis‘ and subsequently extended.
In Italy, Interministerial Decree 22.7.20 extended the application of the ‘milk origin decree’ – dated 9.12.16 and previously extended – until 31.12.21. (1) Moreover, without addressing, as this writer has repeatedly denounced, the critical issue of curds.
Lactalis vs. French republic, the case
Lactalis
, a multinational dairy giant headquartered in France, has sued the transalpine prime minister as well as the ministries of Agriculture, Justice, Economy and Finance. To obtain the annulment of the decree on origin labeling of milk for foods derived from it. Deducing its hypothetical incompatibility with the FIC. (2)
The French Council of State then submitted a number of preliminary questions to theEuropean Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg regarding the interpretation of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/11. In order to obtain an unambiguous and binding interpretation regarding the possibility for member states to introduce additional raw material origin labeling requirements beyond the common rules.
The decision of the Court of Justice
The Court of Justice, in judgment 1.10.20, notes how Reg. EU 1169/11 actually introduced uniform rules on the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance of food. Which is mandatory in all cases where its omission could mislead consumers. (3) In addition to having introduced mandatory origin labeling of meat of the pig, poultry, sheep and goat species (with the modalities specified in reg. EU 1337/13, applied as of 1.1.15).
The standardization of rules, however, ‘does not preclude member states from adopting provisions requiring additional mandatory indications of origin or provenance. Provided that these meet the conditions listed in Regulation No. 1169/2011‘. In particular:
– obligations must come justified by one or more reasons pertaining to the protection of public health, consumer protection, fraud prevention. That is, to the protection of industrial and commercial property rights, indications of source and controlled appellations of origin, and the suppression of unfair competition,
– member states must demonstrate the existence of a link between certain qualities of the foods in question and their origin or provenance. As well as the significant value placed by most consumers on the availability of such information.
Verification of legitimacy requirements of national standards
The legitimacy requirements of national rules, according to the Court of Justice, must be verified on the basis of concrete and objective elements. Therefore, it is not enough for most consumers in a country to attribute a (perceived) ‘greater value’ to a particular food (or food ingredient) solely on the basis of its origin or provenance.
The notion of ‘quality’ of foods, in turn, must be intrinsic to the foods themselves. Which should be able to be distinguished, precisely because of the qualities related to the origin or provenance of a given food and which distinguish, as opposed to those from other areas. Therefore, possible alterations in foreign-sourced milk resulting from its transportation are not relevant to the proof of a link between origin and quality.
The European Court of Justice therefore referred the verification of the existence of the requirements said in the French ‘milk origin’ decree to the national court.
Internal market and Brussels delays
The Court of Justice’s verdict was all in all predictable, though hated by Big Food , which in the EU as elsewhere fights transparency on origin and provenance on labels. With the ill-concealed goal of denying the value of local agricultural systems and always sourcing where raw materials cost the least. The continuing proliferation of national labeling standards, on the other hand, causes non-negligible burdens and costs for all operators.
Problems are evident when national rules differ-or even worse, introduce derogations-from European rules that insist on identical facts. As seen, for example, in the ‘origin pork’ decree 6.8.20. (4) And the European Commission – in addition to failing to exercise due vigilance over national regulations that have not even been notified to Brussels (therefore unenforceable, such as most recently the Italian ‘waste decree’) – is 9 months late on the proposed regulation #EatORIGINal! Unmask your food!
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) ‘Indication of the origin on the label of the raw material for milk and dairy products, implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011, on the provision of food information to consumers’
(2) Specifically for violation of Articles 26, 38 and 39 of Reg. EU 1169/2011
(3) ECJ, Case C-485/18, judgment 1.10.20, on
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?docid=231841&mode=req&pageIndex=1&dir=&occ=first&part=1&text=&doclang=IT&cid=5555553
(4) See paragraph ‘Green light on pork origins, but with reduced transparency,’ in the article at https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/etichetta-di-origine-delle-carni-suine-in-prosciutti-e-altri-salumi-via-al-decreto-con-tranello
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
