THE EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FISCHER BOEL APPROVES PRODUCT INFO ON ALL LABELS. ON WINE FRONT FEDERDOC NOT SATISFIED. CONFAGRICOLTURA SAYS OK

Provide information on labels to indicate also the place where you obtained the product: this is one of the strengths of the document of recommendations adopted today by the European Commission. The proposal came from Mariann Fischer Boel, in charge of Agriculture and was also endorsed by the Minister of Agriculture, Luca Zaia. The goal is to enhance quality policies and make the food industry more competitive.

Here are the recommendations to be examined:


• provide information on the label that identifies the place where you obtained the product;

• introduce terms like “mountain product “and “traditional product” that could replace the term “guaranteed traditional specialty”;

• establish a single register for all geographical indications (wines, spirits, agricultural products and foodstuffs) preserving the specificity of each system;

• improve labeling systems, particularly for organic products at the international level;

• increase the protection of geographical indications; help develop standards of marketing and organic products;

• develop “best practices” for private certification systems, so as to reduce potential confusion among consumers and administrative burden for farmers.
According to Federdoc, the Confederation of Associations for the Protection of Designations of Italian Wines, “In the document launched today to enhance the quality of agri-food policy in EU” the European Commission missed an opportunity to strengthen the system of European geographical indications (GIs) for wines with denomination of origin (DO).

Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese producers all take the same position. They object to an “absence of a concrete proposal for the role of organizations responsible for the DO and IG in production management.”

“Geographical indications - said Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, president of Federdoc - need to be able to manage a reasonable growth to maintain their reputation and contribute to economic and social transformation in many European regions. Without that possibility - he continued - the entire area is subjected to the industrial logic that privileges quantity over quality.
“ We expect - stresses Ricci Curbastro - concrete legislative proposals by the Commission on this point”.
Furthermore, the four organizations consider “unacceptable” the idea of the EU Commission to merge the concepts of DOP and IGP, which represent very different realities.





The position – “Green Paper”: Confagricoltura says ok to indication on the label of the place of origin. Rationalize designations of origin?

Yes, but high quality first”

The Confederation of Italian Agriculture, Confagricoltura, welcomes the contents of the communication from the European Commission on “green paper”. The goal is to maximize the effectiveness of marketing and the quality of agricultural products. One of the key points of the document - said the president of Confagricoltura, Federico Vecchioni –the recommendation addressed to Member States to provide the identification of the place where you obtained the product “is a crucial step forward to improve communication on the quality of agricultural products and strengthen the link between farmers and consumers“.

“The proposals - said Federico Vecchioni - give more choices to the European farmers who must meet stricter production requirements in protecting the environment, animal welfare and the use of pesticides and veterinary medicines”.

Another factor raised by the European document is the need to make the label more accessible to consumers and give greater consistency and simplicity to the different European systems of labeling and certification.
“These goals are not only the needs of consumers - said the president of Confagricoltura - but also of the farmers, who have to deal with numerous and complex certification systems that vary among the different Member States and are often expensive”.
Confagricoltura is carefully checking the proposal to establish a single register for all geographical indications (for wines, spirits and agricultural products and foodstuffs).
“Rationalization is desirable but it must preserve the specifics of each scheme while ensuring long time quality standards”. The communication of the European Commission must now be transposed into law that Confagricoltura hopes European institutions will quickly adopt.