UK Dairy Industry Seeks COOL
A coalition of U.K. dairy groups, including Dairy UK, the National Farmers
Union and British Cheese Board, has published an August 1, 2013, letter in The
Daily Telegraph, urging the European Commission (EC) to tighten regulations
governing country-of-origin labeling (COOL). Stating that current regulations
permit imported dairy products to be stamped with “UK marks,” the coalition
has requested that only dairy products made in “this country, from milk
produced by Britain’s dairy farmers should be labeled as British.”
“Unlike other food products . . . country of origin labeling is not mandatory
on dairy products and we think that it should be,” said a spokesperson for the
coalition. “Many consumers want to buy British dairy products and support
British dairy farmers. The current labeling arrangements don’t ensure that
they have the information to be able to do that.” According to news sources,
of particular concern to the coalition are dairy products that are imported
from Ireland and re-packaged with labels bearing the British flag. “There are
a lot of people that want to support British farmers. This [labeling system] is
misleading consumers. We want a clear and honest system,” the spokesperson
said.
Meanwhile, the European Dairy Association has asked the EC not to adopt the
proposed mandatory origin labeling, reportedly citing concerns that doing
so will be complicated and burdensome, will add additional costs for controls
procedures leading to a more expensive product and will not provide additional
useful information on food product quality.
Jim Begg, director general of the coalition, acknowledged that adopting
COOL would indeed create obstacles for the dairy industry, but reportedly
stated that his group believes that respecting consumer preferences is of
greater importance. “We also believe that COOL represents an opportunity
to generate additional value to the benefit of the entire supply chain, and
farmers in particular, that shouldn’t be passed up.” See Just-Food.com, August
2, 2013; Dairy Reporter, August 8, 2013.
