The European Parliament has voted to tighten legislation covering the labelling of food products in the EU in order to give greater protection to European producers of regional specialities and traditional food.
MEPs approved European Commission proposals to amend regulations applying to PDOs (protected designation of origin) PGIs (protected geographical indication) and TSGs (traditional speciality guaranteed) following a demand from the WTO for the EU to improve access by non-EU nationals to the protected label system.
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The WTO ruling meant that third countries could apply for protection under the system for their own products and MEPs feared this could lead consumers to think that the products concerned were actually produced in the EU. They amended the legislation therefore so that the place of origin and processing should be “clearly and visibly indicated on the label” and called for better differentiation between the respective labels by means of colour codes.
