Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-10-Speech-1-060-000"
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"en.20120910.22.1-060-000"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, I would like to begin by thanking Ms Auconie for her hard work and efforts to reach a consensus.
With regard to the two issues at hand, I must say that I entirely agree with the Commission’s proposal on the electronic identification of beef. However, I cannot say the same for the voluntary beef labelling system. The Commission’s proposal to delete this provision is neither appropriate nor correct. Specifically, this labelling system has played a very important role in restoring European consumers’ confidence in beef and products derived from beef.
In my view, the argument being put forward by the Commission regarding a heavy administrative burden is not valid at present, as the operational mechanism is perfectly familiar to the authorities and the sector. Proof that the mechanism is working very well can be found in the fact that in my country, for example, 180 requests for beef labelling have been approved, as opposed to just 32 for goat meat and 55 for poultry and eggs.
Voluntary labelling is a highly effective tool for making a distinction between varieties of a product, and consumers want to be informed about what they are buying and consuming. However, consumers do not distinguish between voluntary and mandatory labelling, and they often consider voluntary labelling to be more important and more relevant than mandatory labelling. All of this information combined is what enables them to make informed choices.
Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 is by no means perfect, but it is nevertheless much better than the legal vacuum that could be created if Articles 16, 17 and 18 are deleted, because we would be faced with a new system with no prior warning and no mandatory external control. One possible solution to improve the system would be to establish specific sectoral standards for beef, as already exist for other products, such as those in the chicken and poultry sector. I believe the Commission is in the process of doing so.
Lastly, I would like to point out that labelling plays a vital role in consumer decision making, and this is precisely what we have defended in Parliament. It is therefore very hard to understand why we should now want to abolish it."@en1
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