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BackCurrently, the country of provenance, of rearing as well as of slaughter has to be named only in case of fresh unprocessed beef, which is a consequence of the BSE scandal 15 years ago. This only applies to minced meat if the share of beef exceeds 50 %; meat in processed food is currently not affected. From April this year, it will also become mandatory to state the country, in which pigs, poultry and other meat producing animals were reared and slaughtered, which the AK in September 2014 criticised as a half-hearted solution.
Expanding the labelling requirement
In the new motion for a resolution, MEPs demand that the labelling requirement also extends to processed products such as minced meat or “ready meal lasagne” etc. independent of the fact, what type of meat they contain, whereby horse meat was explicitly mentioned. According to the Commission, 90 % of consumers are in favour of more detailed labelling. The Austrian MEP Karin Kadenbach (S&D), Member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), emphasized the right of consumers to transparency and traceability. In contrast, the Chair of the ENVI Committee, Giovanni La Via (EPP) pointed out that it had to be avoided that new regulations would put extra burdens on SMEs. The EPP was the only group to vote against the motion by a majority, which overall was adopted by over two thirds of MEPs.
Unfortunately, the motion does not include any details as to which specifics should be stated in future. In any case, the AK demands a clear and comprehensive proof of origin for meat and meat products. Together with European consumer protection organisations and the European Consumer Organisation BEUC it continues to support this comprehensive labelling requirement.
It is now up to the Commission to prepare a respective bill.
Further Information:
Paper of Chamber of Labour on Food Safety (only in German)