April 10, 2013

French pig industry opposes compulsory implementation of COOL

The French charcuterie industry federation, FICT, and the retailers' federation, FCD, have opposed proposals from Syndicat National des Industriels de la Viande (SNIV-SNCP) to make country of origin labelling (COOL) compulsory on pig meat and processed foods.

At a recent meeting of the pig industry body INAPORC, the rest of the membership tried to convince the retailers and the charcuterie makers that there was a consumer expectation to have traceable products.

The line of argument included a commitment to developing a new, quality-based marketing strategy. Inaporc circulated a statement to its membership in a bid to establish a common position.

It called on all those in the pig meat sector to "consolidate their application of the industry agreement signed in December 2010." This was a commitment to clearly label any fresh pig meat or manufactured products made from pig meat of a single nationality. As yet, there is no movement towards consensus on this position.

The INAPORC council met again on Tuesday (Apr 2) and was once again to attempt to weld together a consensus industry position to meet French president François Hollande's demands that the meat industry must adopt clear labelling on the meat that goes into ready meals.