The Czech government is about to pass a decree that aims to ban ‘meat sounding’. The specific aim is to prevent the reference to the names of meat preparations – i.e. meatballs, cutlets, sausages and hamburgers – on the labels and advertising of veg foods.
1) ‘Meat sounding’, 5 years of battles
The use of terms and phrases that recall meat, meat preparations and meat products in the presentation of vegetarian and vegan foods – i.e. ‘meat sounding’ – is at the centre of a battle that began in the European Parliament on 1 April 2019.
The AGRI Commission of the European Parliament adopted on that date a proposal for an amendment to the draft reform of the CMO (Common Market Organization) Regulation, aimed at prohibiting ‘meat sounding’, which was however rejected by the plenary assembly by a large majority on 23 October 2020. (1)
The MEPs therefore agreed that it is not necessary to restrict the use of meat-related terms to foods of animal origin, given that consumers are well able to distinguish products of different origins promoted as veg alternatives.
2) ‘Meat sounding’. The obsession of France, Italy and the Czech Republic
After the failed attempt to reform EU rules, representatives of the zoological sector and the meat processing industry have therefore turned to the governments most sensitive to their lobbies:
– France first tried to ban ‘meat sounding’ with a bill that was never implemented, following legal challenges that reached the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU); (2)
– Italy has in turn introduced a law, on 1 December 2023, which in theory strictly prohibits not only ‘meat sounding’, but also cellular agriculture; (3)
– the Czech Republic is now venturing into a draft decree which in turn intends to ban the use of words related to meat preparations in the presentation of vegetarian and vegan products. (4)
3) Czech Republic, the legislative project and the first reactions
In the Czech Republic, the government says it wants to protect consumers by introducing a ban on presenting plant-based products as ‘mushroom cutlet’ (when made with mycoprotein instead of meat), ‘soy sausage’ or ‘bean burger’.
‘The amendment presented by the Ministry of Agriculture will disrupt the market of plant-based products ,’ warns Lucia Milec, Head of Public Affairs at ProVeg Czechia.
The proposed prohibitions would, paradoxically, deprive consumers of the opportunity to understand ‘ the form, use and taste of the plant-based product, making it easier to use in the kitchen ‘.
A recent YouGov survey of consumers in the Czech Republic, confirming the above, reveals that:
- 7 out of 10 respondents want to keep labels like ‘plant-based sausage’, ‘soy sausage’ and ‘vegan schnitzel’;
- at least 8 out of 10 people associate the name ‘soy sausage’ with a meat-free product.
4) Consumer protection
Food Information Regulation (EU) 1169/11, FIR, has established uniform rules for the protection of European consumers and fair competition between businesses, with particular regard to:
– name of the food. In the absence of legal or usual names, the name of the product must consist of a descriptive name (e.g. gastronomic preparation based on soya); (5)
– fair information practices. It is forbidden to mislead consumers about the characteristics of food products on sale, with particular regard to their nature, identity, composition, production method (EU Reg. 1169/11, articles 7.1.a and 36).
Plant-based food products correctly presented as such are therefore compliant with EU rules, in compliance with the legal names reserved for some of them (i.e. milk and dairy products, whose names cannot be evoked on products of different origins). (6)
5) Concurrent legislation
Concurrent legislation of the Member States on consumer information, pursuant to the Food Information Regulation, is subject to specific constraints aimed at ensuring the free movement of goods in the internal market (TFEU, Article 34). (7)
National standards which interfere with the proper functioning of a Common Market Organisation (CMO) are themselves incompatible with EU law, according to the Court of Justice, even if the matter in question has not been exhaustively regulated. (8)
6) Free movement of goods and reverse discrimination
The national regulations under examination qualify as ‘discrimination a contrario’ since they entail greater burdens for the sole benefit of producers in the respective Member States, and cannot be applied to products legally manufactured in other Member States in compliance with EU rules. And they are prohibited as measures equivalent to quantitative restrictions on trade, according to the historic case law of the Court of Justice. (9)
Romana Nýdrle, Director of Trade at the Confederation of Trade and Tourism in the Czech Republic, warns that the ban on ‘meat sounding’ will only harm small and medium-sized local producers. ‘Foreign producers can continue to offer plant-based products without changes. Czech companies, however, will face high costs for rebranding, which will increase prices and harm the competitiveness of Czech companies in the European market‘.
7) Future prospects
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) – with the ruling of 4 October 2024, in case C-438/23 (Protéines France, Association végétérienne de France, European Vegetarian Union v. French Republic) – has definitively clarified the illegitimacy of the ban on ‘meat sounding’ hypothesized in France. (10)
The official interpretation of the CJEU is binding on all European and national authorities, including judicial authorities. The above-mentioned ruling therefore makes all national regulations prohibiting the use of terms traditionally associated with meat on foods that do not contain it unlawful.
The European Commission, in its role as guarantor of the Treaty, has already notified Italy of its inability to implement its law against meat sounding and cellular agriculture. (11) And it will have to do the same with the government of the Czech Republic. By activating an infringement procedure, should they persist in applying the rules in question.
8) European livestock farming, what strategies?
The battle of the meat industries against ‘meat sounding’ – in the European Union, at least (12) – has definitively failed. The European livestock sector, starting from the breeders, should therefore focus on other strategies, such as:
– the introduction of mandatory origin labelling, at EU level, on meat preparations and meat products, including those with Geographical Indications (GIs) such as Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs); (13)
– mandatory information on the origin of meat served in restaurants, canteens, catering. As well as on non-prepackaged meat preparations and products. To be established at national level, in compliance with the FIR; (14)
– the systematic review of EU rules on animal welfare and sustainability of livestock farming, the application of which can distinguish local products from non-EU ones (e.g. Mercosur) and strengthen consumer confidence; (15)
– the promotion of the nutritional labelling system on the Nutri-Score labels, to enhance the properties and richness in high biological value proteins of fresh meat and other foods of animal origin; (16)
– and above all, the reform of the Unfair Trading Practices Directive (EU) 2019/633 (UTPs), to obtain the absolute ban on the sale of products at prices lower than production costs and the recognition of a #fairprice. (17)
9) Provisional conclusions
The Czech Republic, like France and Italy, is destined to make a bad impression on an initiative that is clearly contrary not only to EU law but also to established commercial practices that meet the expectations of a growing share of vegetarian and vegan consumers, while respecting everyone’s choices.
National governments should be held accountable to their citizens for the deliberate waste of public resources on unnecessary regulatory projects whose failure is already certain, in light of the official interpretation provided by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Citizens and/or consumers who wish to prevent further waste of public resources in the proposed ban on ‘meat sounding’ by the government of the Czech Republic can join the petition proposed by ProVeg Czechia by following the link mentioned in the note. (18)
Dario Dongo
Credit cover ProVeg Czechia (and see note 17)
Footnote
(1) Dario Dongo. ‘Vegan meat’, meat sounding. Big show at the European Parliament. FT (Food Times). October 23, 2020
(2) Dario Dongo, Marta Strinati. Meat sounding, the French ban submitted to the EU Court of Justice. FT (Food Times). August 28, 2023
(3) Dario Dongo. Italy, the Senate approves the law that bans cellular agriculture and ‘meat sounding‘. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 24.7.23
(4) Jam or marmalade? The European breakfast directive brings changes in food labeling. Forbes CZ. 12/4/24 https://tinyurl.com/2w4yxu3r
(5) Dario Dongo. Food name. FT (Food Times). August 21, 2017
(6) Dario Dongo. Oatly, London Court of Appeal Denies ‘Post Milk’ Trademark. FT (Food Times). December 11, 2024
(7) Regulation (EU) 1169/11, Article 38
(8) European Court of Justice. Case C-283/03 Kuipers [2005] ECLI:EU:C:2005:314, para. 37 and the case-law cited
(9) European Court of Justice. Case 8/74 Dassonville [1974] ECLI:EU:C:1974:82
(10) Dario Dongo. Meat sounding, green light from the EU Court of Justice. FT (Food Times). October 6, 2024
(11) Dario Dongo. ‘Synthetic meat’ and ‘meat sounding’, the Italian law self-extinguishes. FT (Food Times). February 2, 2024
(12) The recall of names of meat and dairy products has been successfully banned in other non-EU countries such as Mexico. See the previous article by Dario Dongo. Milk and Meat sounding, addition of water to meats. Lessons from Mexico. FT (Food Times). December 28, 2019
(13) Dario Dongo. Origin of raw materials, the unsolved problem. FT (Food Times). March 5, 2024
(14) Dario Dongo. Origin of all meats in restaurants, the French lesson. FT (Food Times). November 25, 2019
(15) See paragraph 2.4 in the previous article by Dario Dongo. European consumers’ priorities to the new Commissioner. FT (Food Times). December 12, 2024
(16) Dario Dongo. Nutri-Score and health, new confirmations from France and Spain. FT (Food Times). December 20, 2024
(17) Dario Dongo. Sales below costs, farmers protest in France. FT (Food Times). January 18, 2024
(18) Stand up for freedom of expression (Salsiccia di soia contro la censura). ProVeg Czechia https://tinyurl.com/3tsppkmy
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
