Italy: extending compulsory place-of-origin labeling?

Italy: extending compulsory place-of-origin labeling?

 
It is probably not a coincidence that while a new pattern of competition between the major processing countries of Europe is becoming increasingly evident and the price parameter is giving way to other issues when it comes to standing out from the rest of the crowd of competitors, old debates and questions are resurfacing and motivating the Italian industry as it tries to affirm its capabilities, its integrity and its insistence on the quality of its products.
The Coldiretti union of growers recently launched its crusade in favor of "made in Italy" products, appealing to the authorities regarding the double issue of the possible presence of products of foreign origin (Chinese) in tomato products sold in Italy or within European borders, and on the "questionable" use of the "made in Italy" label for reconditioned products that come from abroad (China) and are re-exported towards third-party markets.
 "According to industry sources, all of the products based on imported paste from China are re-exported to Africa, but the information on the packaging indicates where the product was conditioned and not where the raw materials were grown. The question is whether it is true that all of these products are exported to Africa or if some of them remain in Italy or in Europe," recently explained the Coldiretti's economic expert, Lorenzo Bazzana.

The ANICAV immediately reacted by issuing a vigorous update to clarify that "passata, pulps and peeled tomatoes account for 98.5% of the tomato products that end up on our tables, and all of it is Italian. Tomato pastes only account for slightly more than 1.5% of Italian consumption.
Tomato products sold on the shelves of our supermarkets are made from 100% Italian raw materials: peeled tomatoes, passata, cherry tomatoes and pulp can only be based on fresh tomato, which is processed in factories no more than 36 hours after harvesting. Processing fresh products from other countries would be technically impossible and would be counterproductive from an economic point of view.

Italian companies process on average slightly more than 5 million tonnes of raw tomatoes per year. We import approximately 200 000 tonnes (208 000 in 2016, but slightly less than 174 000 over the past three years, editor's notes) of tomato paste from various countries like China, the United States, Spain, Portugal and Greece, but we rework these products, then we export volumes that are more than twice what we import (678 000 mT exported on average for the period running 2014-2016, editor's note). Re-processed tomato paste is mainly intended for foreign markets and generates a turnover of approximately half a billion euros.
The ANICAV and the industry as a whole expect to participate in any debate regarding labeling transparency, pointing out that any ruling applicable only in Italy would be very limited in its scope and effectiveness. This is why the ANICAV has requested a Community-wide extension of the rule that is applicable in Italy and obliges processors to use only raw tomatoes (and not semi-finished products, editor's note) for manufacturing passata."
 
Labeling that indicates the origin (region or country) of the raw materials was adopted in Italy in 2006. The rule applies to tomato sauces, but does not apply to pastes or other types of tomato products. The Coldiretti relaunched its campaign in favor of the compulsory mention on the label of the origin of the raw materials used, in order to avoid imported tomato paste (Chinese) from being re-exported under the "made in Italy" label, stating that China is the country that is most often concerned by health alerts launched by the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).
The Union pointed out that there is a risk of distorting competition and of damaging the reputation of Italian products, while industrial sources underlined the importance of maintaining exchanges with destination countries for this particular type of trade-flow. The impact of these exchanges on competition remains limited insofar as the prices for products of Italian origin are too high for the destination markets. 

This debate regarding the origin of products, which is closely linked to notions of traceability, has required the intervention of the Italian Minister of Agriculture, who insisted on the importance of government involvement in guaranteeing the total traceability of tomato pastes: "We are working with all of the industry players in order to maintain revenue for farmers, support national production and ensure the transparency of all information supplied to consumers," explained Maurizio Martina, in response to the Coldiretti declarations.
On the specific point of reprocessing and exporting paste, the minister indicated that these trade flows have no adverse effect on Italian manufacturing operations of peeled tomatoes, passata or paste, as demonstrated by the consistent stability of planted surfaces for many years now, which cover approximately 70 000 hectares.
(See also our article on page 5976 and the complete review and full details of the Italian trade in 2016 in our very next issue of Tomato News – May 2016!)
 
Some complementary data
Over the past 10 years, Italian paste imports have amounted to an average of slightly less than 177 000 tonnes per year.