France's agriculture minister has reportedly announced that the country will prohibit the mass culling of male chicks shortly after they hatch and ban the castration of piglets without anesthesia in an effort to support animal welfare. The minister indicated his intention to have the regulations take effect by the end of 2021. Germany previously banned the practice, but a court invalidated the law until a method for determining the sex of an embryo in the egg can be developed.
Tag Archives France
The French government has reportedly abandoned a campaign suggesting French people abstain from drinking alcohol during the month of January following pressure from wine producers. The plan was apparently inspired by a promotion launched by a U.K. advocacy group in 2013 that encourages alcohol abstinence during January and mindful alcohol consumption in the months that follow. The French health minister reportedly confirmed that discussion for a Dry January campaign would not be held until a ministerial health prevention committee meeting in February 2020.
France's Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité has filed an opposition with the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board contesting Teastream LLC's application to register "Champagne's Sober Cousin" for tea products. Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité v. Teastream LLC, No. 91241975 (T.T.A.B., opposition filed June 25, 2018). The French agency asserts that the mark would infringe on the country's protected designation of origin for sparkling wines from the Champagne region, allegedly resulting in "dilution by blurring and by tarnishment" of a famous mark. Meanwhile, France's Directorate General of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control has reportedly investigated "anomalies, deceptions and fraud" in the sale of Spanish wine. The investigation purportedly found that several merchants sold as many as 10 million bottles of Spanish wine as French by falsely marking the bottles with "vin du France" or misleadingly marketing them with French elements, such as the…
The French Parliament has reportedly voted to prohibit the use of meat and dairy terms to describe plant-based substitutes such as vegetarian sausage or vegan bacon. The measure follows a 2017 European Court of Justice ruling that plant-based products cannot be marketed with terms such as “milk” or “butter.” Violations of the ban may lead to fines of up to €300,000.
France has reportedly passed a ban on plastic cups, knives, forks and plates as part of an ecological initiative, Energy Transition for Green Growth. The prohibition, which takes effect in 2020, targets the nearly 5 billion plastic cups discarded annually in France. The country is reportedly the first to target plastic dishware. A Brussels-based organization representing European packaging manufacturers, Pack2Go Europe, has reportedly vowed to fight the ban to prevent similar measures from passing in other European countries. “We are urging the European Commission to do the right thing and to take legal action against France for infringing European law,” Pack2Go Europe Secretary General Eamonn Bates told The Associated Press. “If they don’t, we will.” See Associated Press, September 12, 2016; The Local, September 13, 2016. Issue 617
Following June 11, 2016, riots and arrests in Marseille related to a Euro 2016 match between England and Russia, France has reportedly restricted the sale of alcohol in cities hosting the next games in the soccer tournament. Under the measures, public areas and shops in Lille and Lens could not sell alcohol before or during the matches, while bars and cafes were told not to sell drinks in containers that could be used as missiles thrown from terraces. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve told reporters, “I have asked for all necessary measures to be taken to prohibit the sale, consumption and transport of alcoholic drinks in sensitive areas on match days and the day before, and on days when fan zones are open.” An executive from the Football Supporters Federation, which supports England and Wales teams and fans, told the BBC that the ban would not work, arguing that “the…
France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d’État, has reportedly invalidated a 2014 decree banning Monsanto’s MON810 maize, a genetically modified organism (GMO), because the decree did not demonstrate that the maize would cause serious health or environmental risks, a standard determined by EU rules. The ruling will not allow GMO maize to be cultivated in the country; in 2015, an EU directive allowed member nations to prohibit GMO crops, and France passed legislation complying with the directive’s standards. The later law bans cultivation of all GMO maize in France. The French maize seed federation sought to appeal the earlier rule despite the symbolic nature of the action to argue that the ban was not based on sound science. “It was more a matter of principle that we conduct this appeal to show there was no scientific basis to the ban,” the organization’s managing director told Reuters. “In concrete terms, it…
A law took effect in France on January 1, 2016, that requires restaurants to provide take-away boxes to diners who request them. The law reportedly targets the country’s rising food waste problem, but may have little impact—one government-commissioned report concluded that “the obstacle is mostly cultural” because “the majority of diners don’t dare to ask for the leftovers of their meal, while the restaurateurs see it as a ‘degradation’ of their dishes.” The French do not have a term for a take-away box; many reportedly call it “le doggy bag,” but a hotel and restaurant industry union is attempting to replace the term with “le gourmet bag.” See France 24, January 4, 2016. Issue 589
France’s administrative supreme court, Conseil d’Etat, has ruled that PlasticsEurope’s challenge to the country’s ban on bisphenol A (BPA) in food-contact materials can be heard in its Constitutional Council because the legal question presented is new. The plastics group argued that the opinion from the French Agency for Food, Environment and Occupational Health and Safety that the 2012 prohibition cited as justification was inadequate because it was a “danger study” rather than an “evaluation of risks.” The Constitutional Council now has three months to rule on the case. See Bloomberg BNA, June 19, 2015. Issue 570
Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partner Marc Shelley and Associate Emily Fedeles recently spoke with Food Navigator about a proposal contained in French Minister of Health Marisol Touraine’s National Health Bill that would extend class actions to claims involving injuries to health. According to the August 7, 2014, article, the bill seeks to expand a new consumer law that established class action procedures for consumer-protection and antitrust claims but stopped short of including personal-injury claims. Noting that the current proposal targets food and beverage manufacturers making product-health claims, Shelley and Fedeles warn that these changes are only the latest in a “troubling” trend that could affect the entire industry as more member states move to expand the scope of their class-action laws. With companies granted only one opportunity to defend against collective claims, Fedeles adds, “[y]ou only get one bite at the apple and of course there’s a difference between paying…
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