Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Council Minutes, 10 October 2016
The following is an extract from the minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting on the 10 October 2016
The Slovenian delegation informed the Council of the outcome of the conference organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia.
The objective of the conference was to exchange views on the issue of providing information on the place of origin/country of origin and additional information through various quality schemes. Discussions focused on three key areas: (1) mandatory or voluntary labelling of the origin and provenance of food and agricultural products; (2) quality policy; (3) understanding the various indications by consumers and their right to choose.
11 member states participated in the conference (AT, BG, HR, IT, LV, HU, MT, PL, RO, SK and SI) and signed a joint declaration making concrete proposals for a new model that would address changing consumers’ expectations on information on the place of provenance of certain foods, quality of food and agriculture practices.
In the Council debate delegations welcomed the Slovenian initiative but expressed divergent views on whether a possible EU scheme on origin labelling should have a voluntary or mandatory nature.
A copy of a paper prepared for the Council meeting is available on this site. See: Ministerial Conference – Origin Marking
