Portugal has received authorisation from the European Union to make it compulsory for milk and milk products to mention Portuguese origin on the packaging.
According to Portugal’s agriculture minister, Capoulas Santos, the measure is considered very important by the sector and will allow Portuguese consumers to "unequivocally" make the choice in favour of milk produced in Portugal.
The green light from Brussels came after the Portuguese government announced a series of complementary national measures last July, including the compulsory labelling of milk.
Santos pointed out that so far only one member state, France, had requested and obtained the same authorisation from the EU.
A representative of the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) José Gonçalves, told daily Observador that the measure is "positive", but pointed out that it will not solve the real problem of the sector in Portugal, which has experienced successive crises since the EU ended milk quotas.
He added that Portugal has reduced its production and it is unlikely to recover.
In 2015, consumption dropped to 71 kg per inhabitant/year, the lowest value since 1985.
A move to local sourcing of milk supplies has been a trend in the region. In November of last year, Lidl Spain announced that it was going to source all of its milk nationally.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
