Tag: EU food and consumers policy

MEPs voted by a wide margin today (2 February) to ditch a European Commission plan for giving food producers new choices to promote products as having less fat, sugar or salt.

As pressure mounts to lead sustainable lifestyles, policymakers and companies alike are mulling new ways of encouraging shoppers to buy green. But consumer groups warned against confronting shoppers with too much information and warned that companies' green claims are often not independently verified. 

MEPs yesterday (19 April) backed the mandatory inclusion of information on country-of-origin and transfats on food labels, amid indications of a looming battle with member states and warnings that the new requirements will cripple small businesses.

"Local food is delicious," but the problems with the food system and its environmental impact - and the solutions to address them - are global, writes Sarah DeWeerdt in an April paper for the Worldwatch Institute.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how European farmers can improve the quality of their food and drink to achieve the added value needed to compete with much lower production costs in emerging countries.

With EU citizens using more than twice the resources available within European boundaries, there is a risk of 'serious hardship' from ecological overshoot, Mathis Wackernagel of the Global Footprint Network told EurActiv in an interview.

UK veterinary authorities informed the European Commission on 22 September 2007 of the presence of the bluetongue viral infection in cattle near Ipswich, Suffolk, in another blow for farmers beset by the reinstatement of the EU's ban on British meat exports, following the re-emergence of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.  

Juan Riviere y Marti was appointed to the newly created position of Consumer Liaison Officer on 9 December.

On 18 June 2003, the European Commission adopted a proposal for legislation on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices within the European Union.

The global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was endorsed by the 192 members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 21 May, concluding three years of negotiations.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, agreed in the WHO on 1 March 2003, will govern tobacco advertising, sponsorship, taxation, smoking prevention and treatment, as well as illicit trade.

The Commission is pursuing infringement procedures against eight Member States for their failure to implement the Guarantees Directive that sets out minimum legal rights for consumers buying goods in the EU.

The European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee has called for substantial changes to the Commission's proposal for a new Directive to ban tobacco advertising and sponsoring.

On 11 September, the Commission adopted a proposal for a new directive on consumer credit. If agreed by the Parliament and the Member States, the directive should increase the protection of consumers and lenders across borders and lead to a better functioning EU-wide consumer credit market.

On Thursday 23 May, the European Parliament's Environment Committee voted in favour of a recommendation, by MEP Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, concerning the immediate ban on the sale of animal-tested cosmetic products. The legislation aims to cut down on the thousands of animals killed each year in experiments many consider cruel and unnecessary.

On Tuesday 7 May, the Commission will adopt its new five-year consumer policy strategy (2002-2006). Its main objectives are a high common level of consumer protection, effective enforcement of consumer protection rules and the involvement of consumer organisations in EU policies.

The Council "Internal Market, Consumers and Tourism" meets on 28 September in Brussels.