Domestic market and Covid-19. On 9.3.20 EFSA(European Food Safety Authority), as noted above, confirmed the absence of risk of coronavirus transmission through food. (1) And on 16.3.20 the European Commission publishes ‘Guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and services’. (2)
Health checks and free movement of goods, the Commission’s guidelines
The European Commission’s Guidelines aim to balance two primary needs, which are themselves intimately related:
– protect the health of citizens and
– Ensure the free movement of goods in the Internal Market.
Free movement of food, among other things, is essential to ensure food security (i.e., regular food supplies) for populations threatened by the pandemic.
The movement of people is also considered by the Guidelines, where the reintroduction of border controls is also allowed against European citizens. For the purpose of checking its health condition, preferably only one side of the border (inbound), avoiding giving rise to long queues that could promote contagion. Non-European nationals arriving from Covid-19 risk areas may be turned back at the borders; European nationals may instead be ‘taken in’ for appropriate health care.
Freight transport, restrictions only in exceptional cases
Freight restrictions are covered in the Guidelines as exceptional and conditional measures. In fact, restrictions on the movement of goods can only be allowed if:
– communicated in advance,
– transparent, that is, established in public statements and documents,
– duly substantiated, in relation to the coronavirus emergency, based on scientific evidence,
– consistent with the recommendations of the World Health Organization(WHO, or WHO) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC),
– proportionate, with precise regard to the specific protection objectives,
– relevant, that is, adapted to different modes of transport,
– nondiscriminatory.
Friday the 13th
On Friday the 13th, two large-scale retail chains in Poland (Carrefour and Zabka) had announced a halt to the import of fruit and vegetables arriving from Italy. The matter was resolved on 24 hours, thanks to the intervention of our foreign minister on Polish diplomacy. But the event is mentioned – ‘without naming names,’ with the usual Brussels hypocrisy – in the Guidelines under review.
Poland’s risky rejection of goods and breezy demands for a ‘virus free‘ certification would have integrated a serious violation of the Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Unwarranted and unjustifiable discrimination, all the more so when one considers that:
– on 9.3.20, EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) declared the fears to be non-existent.‘Experiences with previous outbreaks show that transmission through food has not occurred‘ (Marta Hogas, EFSA scientific director).
– 11.3.20 the WHO declared a pandemic, not evidently confined to Italian borders.
No certification ‘should’ therefore be imposed for goods legally circulating in the EU single market, the European Commission points out. (3)
Contingency plan, continuity of production
The rush to stock up on food supplies-at the dawn of the contagion emergency-has caused some problems in running out of goods on the shelf. The European Commission therefore urges member states to call for proactive engagement of the entire agribusiness supply chain. As has already been done in Italy, with the Protocol signed by the social partners on 14.3.20. A true contingency plan, essential in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.
Finally, free movement of all goods should be guaranteed for essential products such as medicines, medical equipment, essential and perishable foodstuffs and livestock. (4) And facilitated for food products. Also by enhancing transportation through the provision of priority lanes, removing weekend bans on heavy traffic and strengthening the operation of necessary facilities (ports, airports, logistics centers).
Notes
(1) The Ministry of Health in Italy had already stated, a week before EFSA, that foods cannot in any way act as coronavirus vectors. And therefore, the claim made by some foreign importers and distributors of ‘virus-free’ certified products is devoid of any legal basis as well as meaning. See previous article https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/coronavirus-nessun-rischio-negli-alimenti-circolare-del-ministero-della-salute
(2) COVID-19. Guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and essential services. European Commission, Communication 16.3.20, C(2020) 1753 final. V. https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/20200316_covid-19-guidelines-for-border-management.pdf
(3) The European Commission’s diplomatic hesitancy once again risks causing damage to the Internal Market, as has already been reported in previous cases https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/farm-to-fork-appello-delle-industrie-di-carni-e-latticini-alla-commissione-europea
(4) The bans on delivering medical devices abroad to other member countries-already notified by Germany and France to Brussels under the TRIS system (under EU dir. 2015/1535), then lifted-are therefore inadmissible. As well as shameful
Dario Dongo and Marta Strinati
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
