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Federal Minister Julia Klöckner has thereby advanced the EU-wide harmonisation of an extended, more easily recognisable front-of-pack nutrition labelling system to provide better guidance to consumers across Europe. Furthermore, the Council agreed on measures for establishing nutrient profiles and strengthening origin labelling. This outcome also benefits the EU Commission with regard to the future legislative process connected with the Farm to Fork Strategy.
Federal Minister Julia Klöckner:
With the NutriScore, I have introduced a German food label that is easy to understand. At the same time, we will be further advancing an EU-wide, uniform label with the decisions we have taken. Our negotiations today have provided a significant boost to this objective. Our decisions will also promote the establishment of nutrient profiles to protect consumers against misleading information. And we are actively committed to ensuring that the origin of food will be labelled in a more transparent manner. This will also benefit our farmers as regional value creation and transport routes will be made visible.
In concrete terms, the German Council Presidency once again called upon the EU Commission to start working on an amendment of the Directive on Honey. The amendment aims to make it mandatory to indicate the countries of origin for the honey used in blended honey.
Key aspects of the conclusions:
- The EU member states have agreed to endorse the harmonisation of extended nutrition labelling systems.
- The EU member states will agree criteria for a harmonised scheme, such as a scientific approach, consumer friendliness and comprehensibility.
- The member states call upon the EU Commission to carry out a scientifically sound risk assessment for its legislative proposal.
- The member states have resumed the discussion on establishing nutrient profiles and encourage the EU Commission to lay down nutrient profiles and to apply them to the widest possible range of foods.
- The member states highlight the importance of origin labelling for consumers and for many producers. The member states will support the impact assessment announced by the EU Commission. With regard to the extension of mandatory indications of origin, the priority will be milk and milk used as an ingredient in dairy products, as well as meat and meat used as an ingredient.