Origin labeling: 11 practical questions answered

Since April 1 of this year, food consumers are no longer being misled when it comes to geographical indications on packaging. That is at least the intention of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/775, but its implementation is not so simple. Some practical questions and answers in a row.

That the obligation to indicate the country of origin or place of provenance as soon as its omission can mislead consumers is not new. This was already established in 2011 when determining the mandatory information on the label with Labeling Regulation (EU) 1169/2011.

Then it took the European Commission seven years to define in what way this should be done. Now it is the industry's turn to wrap its head around how to apply this rule. What makes it so complicated? Time for a list of 11 practical questions and answers.

1. Why was Article 26 in Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 not sufficient?

Article 26 in Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 can be interpreted in (too) many different ways. As a result, everyone has their own way of indicating the origin on the packaging. For this reason, Regulation (EU) 2018/775 now contains a drop-down menu for the designation of geographical areas, the mandatory font size and the location on the packaging of this information. Nevertheless, this does not answer all questions. Therefore, the European Commission published a communication at the end of January containing more details. This again clarifies the intention of the regulation.

2. When is something a provenance entry?

Any statement, image, symbol or term on packaging that refers to a place or geographical area is considered an origin statement. For example, this could be a French flag or the Statue of Liberty or a box shaped like Big Ben. The exception is a geographical term that is part of a common or generic name, such as English licorice. This is a product that no one expects to actually be produced in England. Therefore, origin labeling is not required in this case.

The term common or generic name often gives rise to debate, because which names fall under this definition? A number of generic names are laid down in a law making them legal designations, but in other cases it must be estimated whether the consumer will know a name. Unfortunately, there is no manual to write for that, especially when the product is exported.

3. Is an address also an origin entry?

No, not in principle. The situation changes when there is, for example, an address in Pisa on it and in addition a picture of the tower of Pisa. In that case, the consumer can expect that the product including the primary ingredient comes from Pisa.

4. What text should be used to indicate origin on packaging?

No literal text is prescribed, but terms are defined that are not or are considered to be provenance statements:

• "Produced in," "product of" and "made in" followed by a location is considered an origin statement because it implies an action that substantially alters the product.
• However, the presence of flags, maps, landscapes, national symbols and monuments is considered a reference to provenance. Only if it is mentioned on the occasion of a national or local event is it considered a reference to the event and not to provenance.
• "Packaged in" followed by a location is not considered an origin statement because packaging does not substantially change the product.
• "Produced by" company X with an address is also not considered an indication of origin. This is the Commission's interpretation, probably in view of international companies that have different production locations.

5. What is the primary ingredient in a "Real Italian pasta pesto"?

Determining the primary ingredient can be done in two ways: quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative criterion says the primary ingredient makes up more than 50 percent of the product, so the primary ingredient is pasta. But the consumer probably buys this product because of the pesto, so the qualitative criterion says pesto is the primary ingredient. The influence on the consumer's purchase decision will be the deciding factor in this case. If the pesto is not from Italy, this will have to be stated on the label.

6. Pesto is a compound ingredient, can it be a primary ingredient?

Yes, even a compound ingredient can be considered by consumers to be the main ingredient in a food. But note that in the example above, if the pesto is made in Italy, but the pine nuts come from China, this must be stated on the label.

7. When the primary ingredient is not always from the same country, how should it be listed?

For buyers, it is sometimes desirable or necessary to purchase from multiple suppliers from different countries. When there is no indication of origin on the label, this is not a problem, but once the pesto is from the Italian pasta pesto above, there are two options:

• Mention that the pesto is not from Italy.
• Indicate that the pesto comes from: "EU", "non-EU", or "EU and non-EU".

These options avoid unworkable situations for the producer but provide extremely little information for the consumer.

8. If the primary ingredient comes alternately from England and Ireland, how should it be done?

For the definition of the geographical area, a menu of choices has been established in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2018/775. Since Ireland is part of the EU and England is not, there are four options:

• EU and non-EU" 1.
• 2. Ireland and England
• EU (Ireland) and non-EU (England)" 3.
• 4. "EU and non-EU (England)."

The option "EU and England" is not allowed because it combines two geographical levels. Options 3 and 4 are allowed because further information is voluntarily given here.

9. Where and how should the divergent origin of the primary ingredient be stated?

This information must be in the same "field of vision" as the origin statement for the food. A "field of vision" is defined as "all surfaces of a package that can be read from a single point of view," so this does not mean that both origin statements must be in the same sentence, but near each other. If the origin of the food appears three times on the package, the different origin of the primary ingredient must also appear three times.

It also stipulates that the font size of the text on the origin of the primary ingredient must be at least 75 percent of the size of the text on the origin of the food and must always be in words.

10. When a brand name refers to a geographical area, does this regulation apply?

Yes, this regulation also applies to unregistered brand names. Only for products with a protected designation it does not apply, think of a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) or brand names from the Benelux trademark register.

11. What will change for the producer with this new regulation?

It is not the case that more products now have to state the origin than before. After all, no new rule has been introduced, just more clearly defined what is expected.

The complexity of origin labeling is that the overall picture must always be considered. This means that the text on the label cannot be written until it has been definitively determined what the packaging will look like. If the overall picture implies an origin that is different from the origin of the primary ingredient, the origin of the primary ingredient must be stated.

On the other hand, always ask first whether origin disclosure is necessary: if there is no chance of deception, there is also no reason to state the country of origin or place of origin.

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This article was published in VMT magazine No. 5.