The government wants to mention the origin of milk and meat on labels.

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After the cancellation of a decree following an appeal by the dairy giant Lactalis, the French Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie announced on Tuesday that he wanted to defend at European level the obligation to inform consumers about the origin of milk and meat on the labels.

On March 10, a decree which required to indicate the origin of milk distributed in commerce was canceled by the Council of State.

Previously, the Court of Justice of the European Union had previously ruled that such labeling could only be mandatory if there was a proven link between the properties of a food and its origin.

"My arms fall to me"

The court had been seized by the French group Lactalis which markets its products in 180 countries.

“The political decision will always be above economic interests.

The difficulty is when the political decision is confronted with the legal word ”, declared Julien Denormandie during the questioning session to the government at the National Assembly.

"That a company, particularly a French company, can file an appeal with the Court of Justice of the European Union to hide the origin of products from the consumer - and I am talking about the Lactalis company - objectively arms me ' fall, ”he added.

The minister declared that he would support, as part of the examination of the climate bill, an amendment "aimed at restoring the origin of milk at a minimum (...) for milk coming from the European Union".

"Origin is a competence of the European Union"

He also said that a decree, long awaited by French breeders, would be "taken before this summer" to require mentioning the origin of meats in restaurants and canteens.

"The origin is a competence of the European Union and therefore the fight is at the level of Europe and the minister that I am, be sure, will bring this fight to the level of Europe", he said. for follow-up.

Lactalis explained in a recent press release that its action had "the sole objective of allowing French producers to continue exporting their milk to Europe without being penalized by national regulations and thus to maintain the overall volume of milk production in France" .

Recalling that France exports 40% of its milk collection, the group claimed to have "seen its exports, and therefore those of its producers" decrease in eight European countries which have put in place regulations requiring the source to be mentioned.

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  • EU

  • Julien Denormandie

  • Agriculture

  • Milk

  • Meat