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News

Italy: government in favor of compulsory place-of-origin labeling

15/09/2017 - François-Xavier Branthôme - Lire en français

"We welcome the commitment of Minister of Agriculture Maurizio Martina to extend the requirements for compulsory labeling on tomato products, a measure that the IO has long seen as also requiring availability for the first stages of concrete experimentation as a supply chain, in agreement with the agriculture ministry itself."

These are the words that Tiberio Rabboni, the President of the Pomodoro Nord Italia IO, used in response to the declarations of Minister Martina, who commented favorably on the acquisition of the De Rica brand by the Consorzio Casalasco, whilst also stating his desire to extend to the tomato industry the obligation of place-of-origin labeling that is already in place for milk, pasta and rice.

"Place-of-origin labeling for tomato products, added Mr. Rabboni, can protect products made in Italy as well as consumers, and further enhance the quality of produce in the North of Italy." This declaration from the Minister follows the approval, one month ago, by the Agriculture Commission, of a resolution put forward by European MP Giuseppe Romanini, by which the government has committed itself to convene as soon as possible a roundtable discussion to broach all the topics of concern for the processing tomato industry. The aim is to institute the measures that are required for extending to this sector the rules for the compulsory labeling of the country of production and the origin of the raw materials used.

More specifically, the IO has requested the introduction at the European level (in compliance with proposals put forward at the end of June) of an obligation to state the country of origin of the agricultural raw materials used in products, with several labeling options being left to the discretion of producers :

- "One single European country of origin" if all the raw materials originate in one single country.
- "Originating from within the EU" when the agricultural raw materials come from more than one country of the EU, and only from those countries.
- "Originating from outside the EU" when even a small proportion of the raw material comes from a country that is not part of the EU.
- "One single non-EU country of origin" when the raw material comes from a specific country outside of the EU.

Italy has moved ahead of European regulations
It is now clear that the Italian Ministry of Agriculture intends to rapidly include the origin of primary ingredients on the label of tomato-based products.

"We are working together with the Minister of Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, to extend the obligation to specify the place-of-origin of the main ingredients in tomato-based products, like we did for milk, pasta and rice. […] We are moving towards a situation where the 'Made in Italy' specification is protected and the work of our farmers is valued as it should," stated the Minister of Agriculture Maurizio Martina to the Italian press.
This announcement was made just a few weeks after Rome adopted new legislation making it compulsory to state the place-of-origin of durum wheat and rice on product labels as from February 2018.

Italy's decision comes in anticipation of European legislation regarding consumer information that will comply with the following principle: when the label states the country of origin of the food, but the main ingredient does not originate in that same country, the country of origin of the main ingredient must also be stated on the label, or stated as different from the country of origin of the product as a whole. This legislation is intended to alter current regulations, which allow a processed ingredient sold as being "made in Italy" to contain imported ingredients without the consumer being informed of this fact.
In the context of these new rules, any can of tomatoes conditioned in Italy will be required to specify the country of origin of the tomatoes. On this point, Rome decided to move ahead without waiting for Brussels, because, as stated by Maurizio Martina, "it has been a decision of the EU not to implement regulations regarding food labeling within a suitable time-frame."
For the Commission, which pointed out that it should have received prior information regarding the Italian decision, European executive authorities were not warned of the implementation of the Italian law on pasta and rice, and they are "currently gathering the required information and data before commenting on these decrees."

An impediment to the single market?
However, the Italian decision has also led to a number of criticisms from the European food industry. Food & Drink Europe, an organization that represents the European food and drink industry, has reacted negatively to the Italian initiative, stating that this approach contravenes the principle of a single European market. So this organization has called on the European Commission to "react immediately."
"If it is confirmed, this unilateral initiative is one further step towards fragmenting the single European market for food products, which is one of the foundations of the European Union. This situation is untenable for growers who must face increasingly heavy burdens and obstacles in order to do trade," explained a spokesperson for the organization.

(See also: Italy industry operators unanimously support compulsory place-of-origin labelling
And Italy: De Rica bought up by the Consorzio Casalasco)

Sources: Pomodoro Nord Italia IO, Euractiv.com

Some complementary data
Last year, with 209 000 tonnes shipped in from abroad, Italian imports increased by 33 800 tonnes compared to the previous year, and by 50 000 tonnes compared to the average for the period running 2013-2015. This increase mainly affected bulk paste above 30°Brix (20029091) from China and the USA, and 12-30°Brix paste (20029031) from Spain.
In 2016, Italy also exported tomato pastes, in quantities close on 727 000 tonnes, up by 72 000 tonnes (11%) compared to 2015 volumes.

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