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Italian Ministry Of Food Plans Compulsory Label For Rice Origin

By Branislav Pekic
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Italian Ministry Of Food Plans Compulsory Label For Rice Origin

The Italian Ministry of Food and Forestry Policies has announced plans to introduce compulsory origin labelling on rice packaging.

The pilot project anticipates that the label will indicate the rice-growing country and the processing country and the information should be easily recognisable, clearly legible and indelible.

The decision is part of a set of measures, proposed together with the Ministry of Economic Development, with the aim of protecting the income of rice farmers and enhancing Italian and European productions.

It also follows a public consultation process, during which 80% of Italians requested clear information on the origin of this product.

Italy’s rice sector has been suffering from a price crisis, strongly affected by zero-rate VAT on imports into the EU.

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Italy plans to propose compulsory labelling on the EU level and will also ask the EU Commission to stop tax-free imports that “have created a clear market imbalance”, while, at the same time, “not generating positive effects for the small Asian producers”.

As part of the measures to support the industry, Italy will invest €2 million in communication campaigns focusing on the promotion of rice quality.

© 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

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