Austrian labelling under fire

The Austrian Association of the Food Industry (FLI) has criticised the Austrian government’s adherence to additional requirements for domestic manufacturers, via a national label of origin. The mandatory national label of origin project will only bring losers, especially now during the pandemic, according to FLI. In contrast to foreign competitors, Austrian manufacturers would have to cope with more bureaucracy and costs for the purchase of raw materials, and separate processing and labeling according to origin, according to the association.

A national regulation will also be replaced in 2022 by an EU-wide mandatory labeling of origin for certain foods, which is currently being developed. For Austrian companies this would mean that after switching to a purely Austrian system, they would have to switch to a European system again, with no discernible benefit for Austria. From the point of view of the FLI, it is not appropriate to define national borders as supposed quality limits in order to seal off the domestic market.

In addition, it cannot be proven that food from Austria is better, just because it comes from Austria, states FLI.