The indication of the location of the establishment on the label of Made in Italy food products becomes mandatory again, effective Oct. 22, 2017. Victory!
Legislative Decree September 15, 2017 no. 145, as anticipated, was published on Saturday, October 7, 2017, in Official Gazette No. 235.
We have waited a long time for this measure, taking an active part in promoting the reinstatement of this obligation, which was already in place between 1992 and 2014, including through the petition launched by Great Italian Food Trade together with Fatto Alimentare. And finally here we are! This is followed by a brief analysis of the text. (1)
Obligations
Scope and objectives. The decree ‘lays down provisions on the provision of food information to consumers‘ in accordance with and supplementing the requirements of Reg. EU no. 1169/2011. With the aim of ensuring the ‘correct and complete information to the consumer and traceability of the food by control bodies, as well as for the protection of health‘ (Article 1).
Requirement to indicate the location of the establishment. ‘Prepackaged food products intended for the final consumer or mass caterers must bear‘ on the label ‘anindication of the location of the production or, if different, packaging establishment.’ This information may be provided by means of the commercial documents preceding or accompanying the delivery of the goods, in cases of ‘prepacked foodstuffs intended for mass caterers’ or ‘marketed at a stage prior to sale to the final consumer‘ (Art. 3).
Excluded are pre-packaged food products ‘legally manufactured or marketed in another EU member state or Turkey or manufactured in a European Free Trade Association (EFTA) contracting party to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement‘ (Article 7).
Plant location
Location of the manufacturing or, if different, packaging plant. The location ‘is identified by the location and address of the establishment.’ The address may be omitted if the indication of the location is in itself suitable for the ‘easy and immediate identification of the establishment‘. Conversely, it is not necessary in the following cases:
(a) coincidence of the location of the establishment with that of the operator responsible for labeling the food, (2)
(b) presence on the label of identification mark or health stamp, respectively mandatory for meat and animal products, (3)
(c) citation of the location on the trademark under which the product is marketed.
Where the responsible operator has more than one establishment, ‘itis permissible to indicate all establishments as long as the actual one is evidenced by punching or other sign.’
The legibility of the claim must in all cases follow the same criteria (4) established for mandatory information by EU Regulation 1169/11 (Article 4).
Checks and penalties
The competent authority designated to impose administrative fines is theICQRF (Central Institute for Quality Protection and Fraud Repression), at the Ministry of Agriculture. (5) ‘The powers vested, under current regulations, in the bodies responsible for detecting violations shall remain unaffected‘ (Article 6).
Unless the act constitutes a crime, (6) failure to indicate the location of the establishment (7) shall result in a fine of 2,000 euros to 15,000 euros.
On the other hand, failure to comply with the readability criteria prescribed by EU Regulation 1169/11 for mandatory information is subject to an administrative fine of payment from 1,000 euros to 8,000 euros (Art. 5).
Perspectives
The decree will be applied as of the 180′ day after its publication in the Official Gazette. With authority to dispose of, while stocks last, products placed on the market or otherwise packaged by that date with non-compliant labels (Article 8).
The next step is to obtain the extension of the requirement to mention the location of the establishment to the labels of all food products made in the EU, to strengthen traceability obligations and optimize safety crisis management. (8) As well as to foster informed purchasing choices by European consumAtors, and enhance the value of their respective supply chains. In this direction, Italy will have to step up to the tables in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) See Legislative Decree. 145/17, in Annex D.lgs 15.9.17
(2) See reg. EU no. 1169/2011, Articles 8.1 and 9.1.h. The latter provision, it should be noted, requires that the name or company name (and not just the brand name, mind you) of the operator responsible for providing information to the consumer be indicated on the label
(3) See reg. EC 853, 854/2004 (so-called Hygiene 2 and Hygiene 3 regulations)
(4) See in particular the minimum character height in reg. EU 1169/11, Article 13 and Annex IV
(5) Some misgivings about the removal of responsibility for labeling controls from Health Authorities have already been expressed, at https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/sanzioni-reg-ue-1169-11-esame-preliminare
(6) With particular regard to the crime of fraud in trade under Article 515 of the Criminal Code, ed.
(7) On a par with the defect of specification of the individual plant, in the case of an enterprise having more than one plant
(8) This measure should be introduced through an amendment to the so-called General Food Law, reg. EC 178/02, Article 18
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
