Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council regarding the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for milk, milk used as an ingredient in dairy products and types of meat other than beef, swine, sheep, goat and poultry meat

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers (hereinafter, 'the FIC Regulation') introduces a set of provisions on origin labelling for foods. In particular, Articles 26(5) and (6) of the FIC Regulation require the Commission to submit a series of reports to the European Parliament and the Council concerning the possibility to extend mandatory origin labelling for other foods. A first report on mandatory origin labelling for meat used as an ingredient in prepacked foods was adopted on 17 December 2013.

The present report covers the obligation of the Commission to submit reports to the European Parliament and the Council by 13 December 2014 regarding the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for milk, milk used as an ingredient in dairy products and types of meat other than beef, swine, sheep, goat and poultry meat. For the scope of this report, milk and dairy products are considered as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex VII, Part III. The types of meat concerned are fresh and frozen meat from horses, rabbits, reindeer and deer, from farmed and wild game, as well from birds other than chicken, turkey, ducks, geese and guinea fowls.

As outlined in Article 26(7) of the FIC Regulation, this report takes into account:
– the need for the consumer to be informed;
– the feasibility of providing the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for the different products; and
– an analysis of the costs and benefits of the introduction of such requirements on both food business operators and administrations as well as their impact on the internal market and on international trade.

With the purpose of carefully assessing mandatory origin labelling for the foods under the remit of this report, the Commission services entrusted an independent consultant with a survey to analyse the impact of different labelling scenarios. Its main findings are discussed in this report. Voluntary or mandatory origin labelling were evaluated in 9 Member States for drinking milk and products using milk as an ingredient such as cheese, yoghourt, etc., and in major producing countries for horse, rabbit and game meats.

See also:
- Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council regarding the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for unprocessed foods, single ingredient products and ingredients that represent more than 50% of a food

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Food information for consumers http://www.europeansources.info/record/food-information-for-consumers/

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