Location of the production establishment on the label, Minister Martina announces the approval of the draft decree by the Council of Ministers, Friday, March 17, 2017. Will this be the time?
The requirement to cite the location of the production facility of Made in Italy foods on the label reappears in a statement by Minister Maurizio Martina. Last time it had turned out to be a bluff. SLet’s make sure this is the good one.
On March 17, 2017, the Council of Ministers, the note says, approved the draft legislative decree (1) to reinstate mandatory labeling of the production or packaging address (see attached).
The location of the establishment had been stipulated as essential information in food labeling as early as 1992. (2) But it had failed as of the implementation of EU Regulation 1169/11, as the Italian government had not notified Brussels of the relevant rule.
Following our petition and repeated petitions from civil society, on September 16, 2016, Parliament finally delegated Palazzo Chigi to reinstate this obligation. (3)
Factory Location and True Made in Italy
Accurate information on the origin of food products has a threefold significance:
– Optimize product traceability, which is essential in food safety crisis management, (4)
– enable consumAtors to make informed purchasing choices with regard to the place of production, which expresses a culture and value system,
– enable planetary users to distinguish with certainty Made in Italy from its imitations, so-called Italian sounding.
The logic is simple, only the label where the production address is listed guarantees that the product is Italian. If the address is missing, anyone will know they are dealing with a trivial imitation. (5) What better protection?
Choosing goods produced in Italy means relying on supply chains where safety is better guaranteed than elsewhere. (6) It also means accomplishing effective Jobs Act with our daily consumption. Safeguard employment, in agriculture and industry, and local productions. Contribute to GDP, as well as to BES. (7)
The draft decree will now go to the House and Senate agriculture committees for consideration. And then to Brussels, where the objections imposed by Big Food loom. The big food sisters (8) grind out big business with fake Made in Italy, and they can’t stand any obstacles.
Dario Dongo
ANNEX Outline of establishment decree
Notes
(2) Legislative Decree. 109/1992, the so-called labeling decree
(3) Community Delegation Act 2015, no. 170/2016, Art. 5, para. 3
(4) Reg. EC 178/02, so-called General Food Law, Articles 18 and 19
(5) In every part of the globe among other things, falsification of the operator’s address is subject to severe penalties. As such conduct compromises traceability and thus has health significance. WhileItalian sounding cannot be sanctioned even in the Bel Paese
(6) It is no coincidence that Italy has remained unscathed by the latest pan-European fraud, Horse-gate . And from many others, starting with the ‘mad cow’ fraud. It is no accident that we produce less meat than France and have ten times as many official public veterinarians
(7) Sustainable Fair Welfare (Cnel)
(8) The 10 big sisters of food, at https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/big-food-i-marchi-italiani-delle-10-grandi-sorelle-del-cibo/
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
