By Bruno Waterfield - 24th January 2005
Brussels is seeking to simplify food labelling for consumers and reduce red tape for business.
The European Commission has launched a consultation on proposals aimed to “streamline” differing EU and national laws.
“The commission is aiming to streamline the various existing laws into a single directive, currently two, while at the same time sweeping away some 25 different national rules in this area and reducing costs and regulatory headaches for manufacturers,” said a statement.
The move is heralded as a win, win solution for both Europe’s consumers and industry also as a test of EU efforts to boost economic competitiveness.
EU enterprise chief Gunter Verhuegen is pushing the slimming exercise – “SLIM – Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market” - under a commission reorganisation.
After a Brussels reshuffle, the German commissioner now has control of EU powers relating to ‘freedom of movement for products’ as part of a sweeping brief to boost Europe’s economic performance.
“This initiative will improve consumer protection while making life easier for producers.”
“With tests and interpretations of the law being the same in all member states, manufacturers can look forward to significant cost reductions,” said Verhuegen.
“With EU rules aligned to international standards, they will be able to market their products anywhere in the world without needing to re-label them.”
A commission SLIM panel has recommended setting definitions on quantity, drained weight and “alternative units such as the number of washes in detergents”.
“Do consumers prefer to see an indication of the number of sweeteners in a package rather than the content in grams?,” asks the consultation.
“Do the contents of a box of chocolates include the wrappings of the individual pieces of chocolate in the box? Is water included in the contents indication for frozen meals?”
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