Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Council Minutes, 11-12 October 2021
The following are extracts from the Minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting on the 11th and 12th October 2021:
EU marketing standards
Ministers held an exchange of views on the revision of EU marketing standards for agricultural products. They underlined the importance of marketing standards and acknowledged the need to examine ways to improve them further, in particular with a view to contributing to greater sustainability, while also providing clear information to consumers and maintaining the competitiveness of EU products on the international market. Moreover, many of them expressed support for the Slovenian presidency’s proposal to revise the rules on labelling honey blends so as to indicate the countries of origin of the honey used in the blends.
EU marketing standards set out minimum requirements for products that are traded between businesses or marketed to consumers. The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy envisages a revision of marketing standards aimed at increasing the sustainability of the food supply chain. Other considerations include the need to modernise certain standards and bring them in line with consumer expectations.
For more details, see the Council Meeting Paper prepared for the meeting: Agricultural products – revision of EU marketing standards - Discussion paper for exchange of views
Revision of the European quality policy
On behalf of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Spain, the Spanish delegation presented a common declaration on the upcoming revision of the EU’s quality policy.
The aim of this policy is to provide protection for the names of certain products with unique characteristics that are linked to their geographical origin or traditional know-how. In particular, geographical indications (GIs) establish intellectual property rights for specific products, whose quality level is linked to their area of production.
The Commission is planning to revise the quality policy for agricultural sectors by the end of the year with the aim of strengthening GIs while maintaining the specificities of those in the wine and spirits sectors. The delegations called on the Commission, inter alia, to maintain communication on quality schemes, factor in sustainability, improve monitoring and collective governance, and guarantee fair treatment between operators and member states.
For more details, see the Council Meeting Paper prepared for the meeting: Common declaration on the revision of the European agri-food quality policy to strengthen the geographical indications schemes
Opium alkaloids in certain foodstuffs
The Council decided not to oppose the adoption of a Commission regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 as regards maximum levels of opium alkaloids in certain foodstuffs (12249/21, 11118/21 + ADD 1)
