On the last 6th of March the Law no. 3/2011 (the “Law”) on labeling and quality of foodstuffs entered into force.
The new piece of legislation provides the mandatory indication of origin of all foodstuffs together with a number of measures aimed at ensuring the transparent information in the food sector.
In particular, Article 4 of the Law requires the mandatory indication of the place of origin or provenance of the product, the indication of the possible use of genetically modified organism in any phase of the food chain, from the place of initial production to the final consumption.
This indication will be added to the others already included in the label, as the list of ingredients, the net quantity and the nominal quantity, the expiring date, etc.
The Law also clarifies that for the non transformed product, the place of origin indicated on the label is the place where the production is performed, whereas for the transformed product the place of origin indicated in the label is the place of the last substantial transformation and the place of cultivation of the main raw material.
The enforcement of such provision is delegated to ministerial decrees of implementation of the general principles addressed by the Law; thus, although in force, the above indicated provisions are not effectively actuated.
Finally, Article 5 also indicates that the information on the origin and provenance of the raw material are necessary in order to not mislead the consumer and their omission is considered as a misleading business practice punished according to the provisions of the Consumer Code.
