Milena Gabanelli also falls foul of the origin on food labels. Confirming the confusion generated on the issue by the previous government, with the megaphone of Coldiretti. Without any controversy toward the highly respected investigative journalist, we take this opportunity to try again to shed some light.
On 6/24/18 the
Evening Courier
headlines ‘
Rice, pasta, milk, tomato: what is mandatory to write on the label’
. (1) An article that nevertheless unfortunately follows the rhetoric of Paolo Gentiloni, Charles Calenda, Maurizio Martina, Andrea Olivero. Who bragged to the last that they had introduced ‘transparency in labeling,’ except to hide from voters that they had deliberately put in place illegitimate regulations.
Ministerial decrees bearing the obligation to mention on the label the origin of milk in dairy products, wheat and semolina in pasta, rice, and tomatoes in canned goods did not in fact follow the ordinary course of notification to Brussels. Instead, which has been due, for 35 years now, in connection with all national regulatory projects affecting the production and marketing of goods.
These decrees are therefore illegitimate, beyond their only apparent force, due to their blatant conflict with European law (which ranks higher than Italian constitutional norms). And they must be strictly disapplied-according to the consistent jurisprudence of the EU Court of Justice-by every public administration body.
Indicating the origin of primary ingredients on food labels is undoubtedly a signal of transparency to consumAtors and should therefore be promoted in every possible context. With the goal, by no means secondary, of encouraging conscious purchasing choices that can reward supply chains rooted in our territory. Thus helping the economy and employment, industry and agriculture, manufacturing districts and allied industries.
Transparency in labeling however, unfortunately it is not mandatory, for the reasons mentioned above. Only one virtue remains, for far-sighted entrepreneurs who decide to keep every stage of production, from harvesting raw materials to processing and packaging, in Italy. Those who have been calling for years for the reinstatement of the mandatory place of production on Made in Italy food labels, and have been deceived by the false promises of Gentiloni, Calenda and Olivero.
The EU ‘Planet Earth Origin’ Regulation. (reg. EU 2018/775), approved by the Gentiloni government, itself expresses an excess of power of the European Commission to the detriment of local supply chains and consumers. The latter are effectively deprived of the right to information on the origin of the primary ingredient, where different from the place of production of the food of which it is purely boasted.
The European Commission, in partnership with member state governments, has in fact introduced a number of exemptions that were not provided for in the basic regulation. To the point of excluding the duty to provide information on the origin of the primary ingredient from PGIs (Protected Geographical Indications) and products bearing trademarks with geographic suggestions (e.g., “I.G.G.”).
Italian sounding
),
etc
. (2)
To greater shame, the
Parmesan
will soon receive official recognition from Brussels in the Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan
(JEFTA). Without a peep from the Gentiloni government, neither the Parmigiano Reggiano DOP Consortium nor any representation of supply chain interests.
The writer, humbly, reported the former government’s abuse of office and misrepresentation to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. In relation to five unlawful decrees that caused serious damage to operators and the environment (as tons of food packaging believed to be inadequate were led to the pulp and paper). He proposed urbi et orbi appeal of the ‘Origin Planet Earth’ regulation to the EU General Court. He wrote an open letter to the consortia of Italian PDOs and PGIs, exposing to Qualivita the serious risks of liberalization of counterfeits linked to the EU-Japan agreement.
But Italian newspapers-as per the shining example of Corriere della Sera-indulge in taking up the agencies of ministries and intermediate bodies, from Confindustria to Coldiretti, without bothering with the slightest ‘fact checking’. And the mass disinformation continues.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(2) The information asymmetry introduced by the reg. EU 2018/775
,
Origin Planet Earth
, is also evident with regard to organic products. See in this regard the article https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/origine-ingredienti-garanzie-solo-sul-bio-rivolta
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
