On the basis of two questions suggested by the presidency concerning legibility and responsibility (doc. 10273/10) the Council held a policy debate on a draft regulation on food information to consumers and, more specifically, the information given by labels.
Concerning legibility, ministers pleaded in favour of a mandatory minimum font size, while recognizing that other criteria such as contrast, colour of the letters, distance of the letters, etc. are relevant.
As far as the responsibility of food operators is concerned, some Member states supported the approach of the Commission, according to which an Article should be included in the regulation specifying the responsibility of food operators in accordance to their role in the food chain, whereas a significant number of other countries consider Article 17 of the general food law (Regulation (EC) 178/2002) to be sufficient.
Some Member States also mentioned their wish to have mandatory indication of origin of certain products.