FDBusiness.com

The European Commission has published the results of the first EU-wide control plan to assess the prevalence on the market of mislabelled white fishery products (ie white fishery products that do not match with the declared species on the label). Agreed with the Member States in February 2015, the control plan was implemented over the summer and has resulted in the testing of nearly 4000 white fish samples of 150 different species, taken from all stages of the food production chain.

These tests confirmed that in 94% of the cases the species declared on the label were correct. As for the 6% of samples that were found to be mislabelled, it is for the Member State to identify on a case-by-case basis the causes and motives of the non-compliances. They may be the result of a bad or ill-informed practice and not necessarily of a fraudulent one.

Member States have already been taking appropriate action to end violations, including through the application of penalties, in accordance with national rules. The Commission will monitor the situation and continue its awareness-raising campaigns on labelling requirements for fishery products. It will also carry out a series of fact-finding missions on labelling and traceability of fishery products that will start in December 2015.

This coordinated control plan on fishery products is part of the Commission’s action against fraudulent practices in the food chain. Recent activities in this area include the launch, earlier this year, of a dedicated IT tool (the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation (AAC) system), intended to facilitate the exchange of information regarding possible cross-border violations of food chain rules between national enforcement authorities.