by Sarah Hills FoodBizDaily.com London
February 24 2010 - Plans for an EU food quality policy to boost competitiveness and add value have been laid out to the European Parliament.
Compulsory labelling of farm produce is also needed to ensure consumers are fully informed on food quality and boost agricultural competitiveness, according to the EU Agriculture Committee.
And the committee said that protecting EU geographical indications and traditional specialities from counterfeiting was vital to promote and defend high quality standards for EU food.
The plans were laid out in a text which forms part of the parliament's wider discussion on the future aims of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and in response to a Commission communication on EU quality policy.
Agriculture Committee MEPs called for a binding multilateral register of all geographical indication products worldwide (to be agreed at the WTO) to fight usurpation and counterfeiting, along with financial and technical support to tackle this.
The MEPs also want new rules to introduce “place of farming” labelling for “primary products” such as vegetables and flowers, decided on a case by case basis.
The text was approved by the majority of the committee and is currently scheduled for a plenary vote at the March I session in Strasbourg.