The European Commission has rejected mandatory country of origin labelling for milk and dairy products. The Commission report, published on 20th May, concluded an additional burden for operators due to high costs and the economic impact of having to introduce additional traceability systems, especially for operators located in border regions. However, the costs of labelling the origin of milk could be “generally modest”, according to the report.
In its report, the Commission states that although consumers are interested in the origin of milk, their "overall willingness to pay for this information appears to be modest”. The Commission report therefore suggests that voluntary labelling could address consumer demand while retaining flexibility for Member States and food operators.
So far, there is mandatory labelling for products such as meat, honey and eggs. Several countries (amongst others Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland) were in favour of country of origin labelling in order to have advantages in the promotion of dairy products.
