The recent blocking at French customs of an Algerian hazelnut spread similar to Nutella, El Mordjene, offers the opportunity for a brief analysis of the technical barriers to entry into the EU of composite products arriving from third countries.
1) El Mordjene, the growing success of the spreadable cream ‘Made in Algeria’
The Mordjene is a spreadable cream similar to Nutella, produced in Oran, Algeria by the family-run industry Cebon. The product has seen growing success – in North Africa and the Middle East, but also in France – thanks to:
– an extraordinarily successful promotional campaign on social media (Tik Tok)
– a recent live tasting by journalists of the ‘Première Édition’ of French TV BFM
– the announcement by the giant Carrefour that it wants to put the product on the shelves by mid-October 2024 (1,2).
2) El Mordjene and Nutella compared
The El Mordjene taste according to enthusiasts, would recall that of Kinder Bueno. The ingredients are the same as Nutella, the nutritional profiles equally poor with some differences:
– ingredients. The base of sugar, palm oil and a smaller quantity of hazelnuts is identical. Also the following ingredients (skimmed milk powder, whey powder, cocoa powder, emulsifier soy lecithin, vanilla flavoring). The only difference that can be seen from the list of ingredients, in decreasing order of weight, (3) is the greater presence of milk in the El Mordjene cream;
– nutritional profiles. Both spreads have a Nutri-Score E (intense orange), due to their significant energy values (569 kcal per 100g El Mordjene, 539 kcal Nutella). The Algerian spread has more saturated fat (20 g, compared to 10,6 g for Nutella), less sugar (43,6 g, compared to 56,3 for the Ferrero product) and is rich in fibre (9,1 g); (4)
– ultra-processed foods, according to the Nova 4 classification, in both cases. (5)
3) El Mordjene, the blockade at the EU borders
The French Minister of Agriculture confirmed the blocking of some containers loaded with El Moldjene cream arriving from Algeria, at the port of Marseille, on 17 September 2024. (6)
This measure was inevitable, since the authorities responsible for checking goods arriving in the European Union are required to apply Regulation (EU) 2022/2292.
4) Requirements for entry into the EU of food of animal origin and composite products
Regulation (EU) 2022/2292 has consolidated the requirements for the import into the European Union of foods of animal origin and composite products (from plant matrices and processed ingredients of animal origin). (7)
‘In addition under the conditions laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/625, consignments of animals intended for the production of food, products of animal origin and composite products shall enter the Union only from a third country which:
– ‘has a control plan for pharmacologically active substances, pesticides and contaminants’;
– ‘is included in the list of third countries from which the entry into the Union of the food-producing animals or products of animal origin concerned is authorised, set out in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/405’. (8)
4.1) Application implications
‘All products processed products of animal origin contained in composite products must come from EU-approved establishments located in countries authorised to export such processed products of animal origin to the EU, including with regard to residue control’. (8)
The importer in the EU of composite products – which include, among other things, spreadable creams and biscuits – must therefore draw up and sign a certificate of their conformity with EU rules, to be attached to the transport documents. (9) The certificate must include, among other things:
– confirmation that the processed products of animal origin (e.g. milk) used in the composite products have been subjected to at least one of the treatments already prescribed (e.g. sterilization, UHT), the description of the processes and temperatures used; (10)
– the EU recognition codes of the establishments from which the raw materials of animal origin used in the composite product come (e.g. the supplier of the milk used by Cebon to produce El Mordjene cream in Algeria).
5) Technical barriers to trade?
General Food Law has established that, in order to achieve ‘the general objective of a high level of protection of human life and health, food law is based on risk analysis’. (11)
The rules established in the EU in the last five years for the importation of composite products, however, appear to be exempt from any risk analysis. Considering that:
– ingredients of animal origin contained in long-life composite products (e.g. chocolate, spreads, biscuits) must be subjected to heat treatments that are in themselves suitable for inhibiting pathogens;
– the European RASFF system (Rapid Alert System on Food and Feed) does not provide any evidence of risks associated with these ingredients. Only 5 out of 160 notifications relating to chocolate, for example, concern the presence of pathogens and only one of these concerns a non-EU product. (12)
6) Provisional conclusions
The legitimate suspicion is that the barriers to entry into the EU of composite products do not respond to risk analysis or food safety needs, but rather to the commercial interests of Big Food in preventing parallel imports of its products. (13)
The obligation for importers to report the codes of the establishments from which the ingredients of animal origin (e.g. milk) come from in composite products (e.g. Nutella, Oreo biscuits) made in third countries (e.g. India) allows Corporations to prevent their imports into the EU, simply by not revealing these codes to ‘traders’.
Algeria is in any case one of the most advanced countries in the southern Mediterranean basin, as well as being a strategic partner of the European Union. There is therefore confidence in the recognition of equivalence of its food law and official controls to EU requirements.
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Hana Saada. El Mordjene: The Algerian Spread Taking France by Storm. Dzair Tube. 12.9.24 https://tinyurl.com/3ph2khz2
(2) The popular pâte à tartiner algérienne El Mordjene interdite dans l’Union européenne. France info. 17.9.24 https://tinyurl.com/2s36yfvb
(3) Les Marseillais cherchent désespérément la pâte à tartiner El Mordjene. BMF TV. 16.9.24 https://tinyurl.com/43cvu5uc
(3) Dario Dongo. Ingredients list, the ABCs. FT (Food Times). March 6, 2018
(4) Pâte à tartiner algérienne El Mordjene prohibited in Europe: une diététicienne explique pourquoi. Santé magazine. 19.9.24 https://tinyurl.com/4cham6zk
(5) Marta Strinati, Dario Dongo. NOVA classification, natural and ultra-processed foods. Friends and enemies of health. FT (Food Times). September 16, 2020
(6) Riad Beladi. EU Ban on Algerian El Mordjene Spread Sparks Controversy. International Supermarket News. 22.9.24 https://tinyurl.com/46jpx38j
(7) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2292 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to requirements for the entry into the Union of consignments of food-producing animals and certain goods intended for human consumption. Consolidated text at 11.2.24 https://tinyurl.com/42vwxpnh
(8) Reg. (EU) 2022/2292, articles 7 and 6.1
(9) Import of composite products into the EU. Q&A. European Commission. 7.11.23 https://tinyurl.com/5a2uskbf?
(10) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692 as regards rules for entry into the Union, and the movement and handling after entry of consignments of certain animals, germinal products and products of animal origin. Consolidated text at 7.2.23 https://tinyurl.com/2ehjum8e. See Article 163.1 and Annex XXVII
(11) Regulation (EC) 178/02, Article 6
(12) RASFF Window. Search subject: chocolate
(13) Dario Dongo. Parallel trade and import, the real savings on Big Food products. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
