Oil: Europe does not like compulsory indication of origin on the label

Europe does not like the 17th.January decree that obliges the compulsory indication of origin on the label of extra virgin olive oil, while the Eur.regulations consider the origin as facultative. Bruxelles has decided to open an infringement proceeding against Italy which will have two months' time to introduce its observations to the European Officer of Agriculture, Marianne Fischer Boel. "We can not change our mind" was Paolo De Castro's immediate answer, the Italian secretary for Food and Agriculture underlined: "we are absolutely sure about the effectiveness of our decisions for compulsory labelling. Anyway a hard struggle between Rome and Bruxelles is expected; this will probably postpone any kind of political debate to the end of the year, when the 'green book' is expected to be published; this will probably make the options clear as for quality, origin labelling and protected geographic indications. Indeed the most of the European Commission reckons that the possibility to show the origin on the labels has to be regulated by the current laws of any specific sector: in the case of the olive oil these are to be referred to 1019 regulation of the European Commission dated back to 2002, regulating the product commercialization. Just this set of rules particularly the art.4 crashes against the Italian decree, become effective by last 17th. Jan. According to these rules the designation of origin is possible at a regional level for the products with protected designation or indication( Dop and Igp). For the other oils or blended oils, the designation is facultative. However the 1019 regulation of 2002 on the commercialization of the olive oil had among its aims " a compulsory designation of origin for virgin and extra-virgin olive oils" but at the moment of the writing of this regulation it was impossible to reach this aim just for the lack of a system of traceability and control on the several oils, so the only effective thing to do was to create temporary facultative system of origin designation. Already in 2002 the EU had the purpose to make this origin designation as compulsory, but since then there has not been the political will to do it. But De Castro is ready to fight and he announced "a serious debate with Bruxelles" for the next weeks.