Italy’s pasta labelling plan raises concerns

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Published: February 23, 2017

WINNIPEG/ROME (Reuters) — Canada has raised concerns with Rome about Italy’s plan to require country-of-origin labels on pasta sold there.

The move is alarming Canadian wheat exporters just as a free trade deal gained European approval.

Rome sent a draft decree to the European Commission in December, seeking approval for labels on pasta sold in Italy that would identify where the durum wheat was grown and milled into semolina for pasta-making.

Canadian exporters and farmers fear the move would depress prices in Canada, the biggest durum exporter, because it would require Italian pasta makers to segregate supplies by country.

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The European Union and Canada secured clearance earlier on Wednesday for their contentious free trade deal.

“We’re working back and forth with our officials. Anything that would hurt the farmers, we don’t want,” federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said.

He said the impact on Canada would depend on how broadly Italy applies the plan, but the minister’s spokesperson confirmed later that Canada has “initial concerns.”

European lawmakers have shown an increasing appetite for labelling because of consumer demands for information about food, and Italy has also said labelling would help its pasta industry better compete with foreign competition.

However, such labelling might be considered disruptive to the single market, which European Union authorities are charged with safeguarding.

The “protectionist measure” would create extra cost for Italian pasta-makers using Canadian supplies, resulting in lower prices for Canadian farmers, said Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada.

Canadian durum farmers grew their biggest-ever crop last year. Italy is Canada’s biggest foreign durum buyer in 2016-17, as of December.

“More bad news stories just put more pressure on the entire agriculture industry in Canada,” said Morgan Nunweiler, whose durum crop near Rosetown, Sask., was devalued by disease last year.

It is too early for the EC to comment because it has up to three months to express observations after receiving the decree in December, a commission spokesperson said.

The labelling plan has generated mixed reaction in Italy.

While in favor of transparency, the Italian pasta makers union is concerned the labels would confuse origin with quality.

The decree also contains provisions that are valid only for Italy and could distort competition within the EU, said a union official.

Canada and Mexico won a similar labelling fight with the United States in late 2015.

The U.S. repealed country-of-origin labels on meat after a World Trade Organization panel ruled against the program.

MacAulay said he did not know if Ottawa was considering a similar complaint to the WTO, but added Canada’s aim is to “keep trade flowing as freely as we can.”

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