SMEs hit out at cost of EU food labelling proposals 

The hearing, carried out under the auspices of German Conservative MEP and rapporteur on the 'Food Information to Consumers' dossier Dr. Renate Sommer, was lively, incorporating a wide range of stakeholders. 

The main issues discussed were: 

• The coexistence of national and EU food labelling systems as outlined in the Commission proposal; 
• compulsory vs. optional information on food packets; 
• legibility of information, including font size (Commission proposed a 3mm minimum) and contrast; 
• country of origin labelling, simplification of nutritional information, and; 
• the so-called 'traffic-light system ' of colour-coded guideline daily amounts. 

Nina-Alexandra von Radowitz of EuroCommerce  was particularly critical of the proposal, claiming that "it does not simplify the labelling information on food packets". She disagreed with the 3mm minimum font size, saying it would pose problems on multilingual labels. 

Angelika Mrohs of the Confederation of the food and drink industries of the EU (CIAA) said food labelling would not substitute education because "it is about information, not judgement". She doubts that the Commission's proposal will achieve its stated goal of simplification. The CIAA, she said, favoured the deletion of national schemes and is in favour of full harmonisation at EU level. The CIAA further believes the "proposals are too detailed to be practical". 

Ludger Fischer, representing the EU's small and medium-sized companies  at UEAPME, criticised the proposal, calling it "a complication, not a simplification". Seeing as 90% of the EU food industry is made of up companies with 10 employees or less, "food labelling will increase costs which will hit SMEs the most," he said. Based on a study by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, "new nutrition information labelling would cost the EU an estimated €6 billion," he said. 

A UK representative of UEAPME slammed the Commission's proposal. "This is meant to be a simplification. The regulation puts extra duties on SMEs, so by definition this is not a simplification. It will increase costs." 

But Kees de Winter  of EU consumer organisation BEUC sees the proposal as a much-needed simplification and agrees with the traffic light system of nutrition information. 

Parliament's rapporteur on food information, German Conservative MEP Dr. Renate Sommer, slammed the Commission's proposal on font size, describing it as "unrealistic". "Consumers are not stupid, that is why we need more information," she said. Acknowledging the fact that more nutritional information will mean more costs for smaller businesses, she nevertheless claimed that "costs will be passed onto consumers". 

French EU Presidency spokesperson Roseline Lecourt confirmed her country's support for the initiative and said there would be a clearer indication of what the Council's position is by the time of the Health and Consumer Affairs Council on 15/16 December 2008. She does not consider the tasks of Parliament and Council to be very easy regarding this issue. 

Jose-Maria Espuny Moyano from the Economic and Social Committee (EESC) said "too much information can be the same as not enough information". He suggested that a database be set up to act as a reference point for industry and consumers on nutritional information.