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SUMMER SCHOOL 2012 THE FUTURE IS FOOD

LABEL PROTECTION FOR THE ARTISAN FOOD PRODUCER

Raymond O Rourke, Food & Consumer Lawyer, Member of the TASTE Council

What do consumers say & how do they act ???

PERIscope
(Base: All Grocery Shoppers 15+ )

Checking for Country of Origin - 2011


% ROI 2011 NI 2011 11 Always check 36 38 GB 2011 13

46

Sometimes check

45

44 Never check Don?t know 19

48

Q.46b And to what extent do you check for country of origin, i.e. what country the food was produced in? 323
11-019758/Bia Periscope Study 2011 Master/Sept 2011

PERIscope
(Base: All Adults 15+)

Understanding of the Word "Natural" - 2011


ROI 2011 Spontaneous % No artificial ingredients/ (43) preservatives/colours Natural ingredients (36) Total % 75 74 49 39 37 Spontaneous % (45) (22) NI 2011 Total % 70 68 48 45 45 GB 2011 Spontaneous % (48) (33) Total % 78 74

From nature (18)


Natural colour (7)

(19)
(8) (17) (10) (5) (9)

(13)
(13) (14 ) (8) (6) (3)

47
49 49

Not fortified with additional (9) ingredients


Nutritionally better for you (12) Produced organically (10) Produced locally (10)

42
33 37

47
23 32

38
36 29

297

Q.67 When you think about food what do you understand the word "Natural" to mean? Q.68 And which, if any of the following would you associate with "Natural" in terms of food?

11-019758/Bia Periscope Study 2011 Master/Sept 2011

PERIscope
(Base: All Adults 15+)

Organic Purchasing Behaviour

ROI 2011

NI 2011

GB 2011

EVER BOUGHT All Adults 15+ Yes 57% EVER BOUGHT Grocery Shoppers Yes 36% Yes 56%

66% Vegetables Fruit Poultry Dairy produce

43% Vegetables Fruit Poultry Dairy produce

59% Vegetables Fruit Dairy produce Poultry

MOST FREQUENT PURCHASES

Q.58 When was the last time, if ever, you bought any organic food? Q.58a Considering the broad categories of food that I will read out to you, about how often, if at all, do you buy any in organic form? 11-019758/Bia Periscope Study 2011 Master/Sept 2011

408

PERIscope
(Base: All Grocery Shoppers 15+ )

Checking for Symbol of Quality - 2011


% ROI 2011 NI 2011 10 Always check 32 GB 2011 14

45

36

Sometimes check

49

45 Never check Don?t know * -

49

19
1

Q.46a When you are buying food produce, to what extent do you check for a symbol or certificate that guarantees the quality of the produce? 319
11-019758/Bia Periscope Study 2011 Master/Sept 2011

PERIscope
(Base: All Adults 15+)

Importance of Buying Local Produce when Food Shopping - 2011


% ROI 2011 NI 2011 GB 2011

22 Very Important (5) 34

22

29 40 Fairly Important (4) 39 23 27 Neither/nor (3) Not very important (2) Not at all important (1) Mean Score 17 6 3 3.9 8 3 3.7 13 12 3.4

346

Q.12 How important or not is buying local produce i.e. products produced in your local area, to you when purchasing 11-019758/Bia Periscope Study 2011 Master/Sept 2011 food?

How can the LAW assist in promoting Irish Artisan, Traditional & Specialty Food ??

FOOD LABELLING Mandatory items on a Food Label name, ingredients, QUID, allergens, best before date Principal behind food labelling rules must not mislead the consumer: as to characteristics of the food and in particular, as to its nature, identity, properties,
composition, quantity, durability, country of origin or place of provenance, method of manufacture or production

Many of mandatory items on a food label have a food safety dimension food hygiene etc Taste Council want to highlight these other issues so important for Irish artisan food products a case of fraudulent information

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELLING

Mandatory Origin Labelling Beef or if consumer would be mislead without such information Irish Government (2007) notified to European Commission, draft regulations requiring country of origin labelling on pigmeat, poultry and sheepmeat - Commission rejected draft regulations (March 2008) EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the Provision of Food Information to Consumers mandatory country of origin labelling part of the new rules

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COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELLING


Country of origin will become mandatory for lamb, pork, goat, chicken implementing rules [within 2 years] Place of origin or provenance of the food or the primary ingredient will be indicated [place of birth, place of rearing and place of slaughtering] like existing Beef Labelling regulations

The Commission will bring forward implementing rules on meat used as an Ingredient [within 2 yrs] following preparation of a Report on meat origin labelling which will include an analysis of the costs and benefits of the introduction of such measures, including the legal impact on the internal market and the impact on international trade.

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COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELLING

The Commission will prepare a Report [within 3 yrs] on the feasibility of origin labelling for other meats (rabbit), milk, milk used as an ingredient; unprocessed foods, single ingredient products, ingredients that represent more than 50% of the product BIG ISSUE these new rules must include a definition for substantial transformation we cannot allow a situation where foreign beef, lamb, chicken can be imported and processed into a food product which is then labeled as Irish Beef, Irish Lamb, Irish Chicken

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USE OF TERMS farmhouse, natural etc Terms used in marketing terms by food companies to enhance the consumers view of the nature of the food product but in many cases the use of such term is misleading
natural defined following Supreme Court case & legislation & court cases for the use of terms such as fresh, traditional & mountain

Food Standards Agency Guidelines establishing criteria for the use of the terms fresh, natural, pure, traditional, original authentic',' home made, farmhouse
No specific legislation or guidelines as so many Italian products have PDO/PGI status or national or regional denomination of origin

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USE OF TERMS farmhouse, natural etc Artisan it is a term that is popping-up on all sorts of products everything from Starbucks Artisan Breakfast Sandwiches to Dominos Artisan Pizza means absolutely nothing !!!!

Datamonitor (UK) found that in the past 5 years a whopping 800 new food products had emerged on the market bearing artisan labels
Taste Council want guidelines established for the use of the term artisan Artisan Forum (FSAI) in conjunction with FSAI agreed a project to begin establishing UK-style Guidelines

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ORGANIC FOOD

Council Regulation 834/2007


Covers non-packed organic products and organic foods consisting of organic ingredients Foods can only be marked as organic if at least 95% of their ingredients are organic. The use of GMOs is prohibited.

Producers of packaged organic food must use the EU logo as of 1 July 2012. Logo is optimal for non-packaged organic products.

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ORGANIC FOOD

Labelling must include the code number of the certifying body to which the organic operator is subject as well as the words Certified Organic
Five certifying bodies in Ireland:

Private, regional or national logos continue to allowed appear alongside the EU logo. If all agricultural raw materials of which the food product is composed have been farmed in one Member State, then that countrys name can be use in conjunction with the EU logo
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PROVENANCE - PDOs/PGIs

Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 On protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs
= PDOs and PGIs = Geographical indications = identifying products as originating in a territory where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin

PRODUCTS COVERED

Bakery/pastry Table olives Beer Oil/fats Fruit/vegetables/cereals Cheese Livestock/animal products

Traditional Speciality Guaranteed TSG

37 registrations since 1992 21 pending applications


Criteria: traditional composition and methods of production Examples Mozzarella, Jamon Serrano Traditional has strong consumer appeal

DISTRIBUTION OF PDOs/PGIs/TSGs by MEMBER STATE

Italy 246 France 175 Spain 157 Portugal 132 Germany 95 Greece 80 UK 42 Poland 33 Czech Rep 32 Austria 14 Belgium 13 Slovakia 13

Slovenia Hungary Finland Sweden Ireland Lux Cyprus

13 12 8 6 4 4 1

IRISH PDOs/PGIs

Clare Island Salmon (PGI)

Smoked Salmon

Dairygold Imokilly Regato Regato Cheese (PGI)

Timoleague Brown Pudding (PDO)

Processed Pork

Connemara Hill Lamb

Lamb

PDOs/PGIs - Application

name description of the product definition of the geographical area evidence that the product originates in the geographical area method of obtaining the product link with the geographical area inspection structure specific labelling details (PDO or PGI logos) generic names cannot be registered e.g. cheddar Once a name is registered, any producer in the geographical area may start producing if he respects the specification and is controlled.

MAIN BENEFITS TO PRODUCERS OF PDO/PGI SCHEMES

Legal protection and copyright against counterfeit products in Europe. Provides consumers with assurance on quality and origin. Adds to brand personality and heritage creating a point of difference. Prestige associated with on-pack logo helps premium price positioning.

Designations provides scope to extend reach to export markets.

Main Difficulties for PDOs/PGIs in Ireland

Time and effort required to undertake registration process can be cumbersome Need for Producer Group to make application Production costs can increase to meet higher technical and quality standards Producers find it hard to see any marketing benefit especially when so few Irish consumers know of the schemes

HARVEST 2020 dedicated unit in Department of Agriculture to assist with applications recent success with Waterford Blaa

LOCAL FOOD

Venice near Rialto Bridge

LOCAL FOOD

Barcelonas La Boquiera food market

LOCAL FOOD

Paris

LOCAL FOOD
Traditional means of selling food via markets farm-gate Over 150 farmers markets established round the country and many now aligned with Good Practice Standard for Farmers Markets. Huge popularity with consumers while assisting in maintaining vibrant rural communities and most importantly a local food culture Labelling legislation permits enforcement in a flexible fashion for non packed products at markets its an issue for Member States information on certain items via blackboards without compromising food safety Buying local as demonstrated in Good Food Ireland-Grant Thornton Report (April 2012) sustains local economies & adds to food tourism

TASTE COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS

Country of Origin labelling support it want a definition for substantial transformation Use of terms like natural support Guidelines as in the UK will work with FSAI want the term artisan to be included Organic Food support origin labelling as permitted under the EU Regulation PDOs/PGIs support Dept of Agricultures efforts for more Irish applications as recommended in Harvest 2020 Local Food support flexible enforcement of labelling legislation at farmers markets, without compromising food safety

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