PRODUCT SAFETY : CONSUMER ASSOCIATIONS OPPOSED TO MADE IN' LABEL.

The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) has it in for the principle of indicating the country of origin on non-food products. BEUC takes the view that this type of labelling is misleading for consumers. This has come as a major surprise for MEPs and enterprise representatives, who are in favour of this principle.

On the occasion of the adoption, on 13 February, of legislative measures on product safety, the European Commission has proposed new rules obliging producers to indicate the country of origin on their products (see Europolitics 4585). Under the proposal, manufacturers and importers need to ensure that the country of origin is indicated on each non-food product sold in the EU. For products made in a member state, the "Made in" label can read either "EU" or whichever specific member state it was made in.

BEUC considers that information based on customs codes does not work for the people it targets. BEUC's Director-General, Monique Goyens, holds that it would have been a good idea to ask consumers what information they want on origin labelling. "If a T-shirt is made in India but the collar has been added in Germany, it could be labelled made in Germany but that is misleading for the customer."

And yet, when Commissioner Tonio Borg, who is in charge of consumer protection, presented the text, he noted that the producer country should be the country in which the production had been carried out for the most part. Goyens notes her disappointment at the fact that this point is the focus of all discussions on the legislative package. "The Commission should rethink it since neither businesses nor consumers want it." Goyens told MEPs: "Don't spend too much time on it, get rid of it".

MEPS IN FAVOUR

But MEPs do not seem to want to get rid of it. An overwhelming majority of the EP supported the proposal in two resolutions. And "the Commission listens to MEPs," the representative of DG Enterprise said somewhat scathingly. Resorting to customs codes to define the country of production is "an elegant way to solve the protectionism problem," especially since manufacturers will be able to use the label "Made in the EU".

As for the industry, Cofindustria...