On the 16th of June the European Parliament (EP) voted in plenary the report of Mrs. Sommer concerning the provision of food information to consumers. EFOW welcomes the adoption of the report which establishes a temporary exemption for alcoholic beverages, including wine, from labelling the nutritional declaration and the ingredients list.

The EP on the 16th of June, during the Strasbourg session, was finally able to vote on the first reading of this thorny issue regarding food labelling.

An overwhelming majority of MEPs voted in favour of Mrs. Sommer’s report on this regulation (562 votes) and supported the temporary exemptions for alcoholic beverages from having to label the nutritional content (calories …) and the list of ingredients. In fact, the European Parliament considered it essential that the European Commission conduct an impact assessment study on European consumers in order to determine what information should be labelled on wine bottles to properly inform European consumers.

The President of EFOW, Mr. Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, welcomes the vote of the European Parliament that clearly took into consideration the needs of the wine sector on this important issue. Indeed, he considers that “since 2009, wine has been subject to new specific and strict labelling measures that wine-growers are just beginning to understand. The EP has recognized the need to bring forth a complementary study to judge whether new rules, such as nutritional labelling, should apply to our sector. And we welcome this measure, especially since the last study in 2005 on the matter shows that consumers do not want such labelling of wine.”

Furthermore, Mr. Curbastro states that “the dossier is not closed. Now the Council of Ministers must deliberate on this sensible issue. We wish for producer Member States to be leaders in this field in order to maintain the exemptions enjoyed by the wine sector“.

A common position should be reached by February 2011, which means that the EP will vote the second reading, if necessary, during the first half of 2011.

Contacts:

Daniela Ida ZANDONA’ (Bruxelles) : +322733 50 58

Pascal BOBILLIER-MONNOT (Paris): +33142612125

José Alfonso SIERRA SALINAS (Madrid): +34619665066

Pasquale DE MEO (Rome): +390644250589

Alberto RIBEIRO DE ALMEIDA (Porto): +351222071647

David BRASZIL (Budapest): +3614137527

Labelling of ingredients and calories: a strong signal from the European Parliamen