Resolution on traceability of fishery and aquaculture products in restaurants and retail

The European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on Fisheries on traceability of fishery and aquaculture products in restaurants and retail.

Recalling that consumers should be able to fully rely on the whole chain that provides fishery products in the EU market, Members expressed serious concern at the results of various studies showing significant levels of mislabelling on fish products sold on the EU market, including in the restaurants of the EU institutions. They reaffirmed that the intentional and fraudulent mislabelling of fish species is a breach of EU regulations, including the Common Fisheries Policy, and may constitute a criminal offence under national law.

Strengthen controls: Parliament called on Member States to strengthen national controls, including on non-processed fish for restaurants and the catering sector, in an effort to tackle fraud and identify the stage in the supply chain where fish is mislabelled. 

It called on the Commission to monitor on a regular basis the extent to which the required information appears on labels, which must provide understandable, verifiable and accurate information.

In the context of voluntary labelling, Parliament urged Member States to state all available information that enables the consumer to make an informed choice. It also urged the Commission and the Member States to strengthen awareness-raising campaigns on labelling requirements for fishery and aquaculture products.

Strong traceability system: drawing attention to the need to include information on the origin of fishery products in a transparent and clear manner, Parliament asked the Commission and the Member States to study what measures could be put in place to improve the traceability of fishery and aquaculture products.  It supported a strong traceability system, from landing to consumption, which would give confidence to consumers and, in turn, decrease commercial dependency on imported fishery and aquaculture products. It called on the Commission to exploit the potential of DNA barcoding, which could assist in the identification of species by DNA sequencing, in order to enhance traceability.

Members supported the creation of a working group to harmonise the implementation of traceability in all Member States and the setting-up of an external structure enabling the certification of voluntary claims for fishery and aquaculture products on the EU market.

European labelling policy: Parliament felt that such a strategy in the fisheries sector would be a key factor in boosting the economic development of coastal communities, in recognising the best practices of fishermen and in underlining the quality of the products they supply to consumers. It asked the Commission to submit a feasibility report on options for an eco-label scheme for fishery and aquaculture products. The key elements of the labelling system must ensure transparency, independence and credibility of the certification process.

Confusion regarding European fishing zones: Parliament called on the Commission to adopt measures to remedy the confusion caused by the current labelling requirements based on Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) areas and sub-areas, which is particularly serious in the case of catches in some sub-areas of area 27, where inter alia Galicia and the Gulf of Cádiz are labelled as ‘Portuguese Waters’, Wales as ‘Irish Sea’ and Brittany as ‘Bay of Biscay’.

Any future Union-wide ecolabel and third-party seafood ecolabelling and certification schemes should be consistent with the FAO’s Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries.