Ferrarini: Labeling products is crucial for consumer safety

Tomorrow the decisive vote in Parliament also for Made In, then it goes to the floor. Afterward, says the Vice President of Confindustria, “we expect maximum efforts from our Goverment”

Product safety also involves good labeling. Lisa Ferrarini, Vice-President of Confindustria and chair of the Committees Made In and the Anti- counterfeiting, is convinced of this. Yesterday she was in Brussels for a debate in Parliament, which she encouraged, more importantly, an excuse to meet all the key players in the difficult legislative path this directive on product safety (excluding food) is taking, which will have a new, decisive vote in the Parliamentary Committee tomorrow before being passed – who knows when – to the Plenary and then on to the Council.

“Safety for consumers is obviously a fundamental aspect of the product. It means everything in a toy, in clothes, in toothpaste. From this perspective, even establishing where the product originates is decisive; it helps in tracing the product in case there is a critical situation,” she explains in an interview with eunews.it.

Precisely on this note, regarding origin labeling, last year a proposal from the Committee that they had been working on since 2003 fell through….

“Now things have changed; there was the crisis and it was necessary to rethink everything. The issue, rightly so, has passed from one legislative basis founded on international trade to one based on consumer’s rights. It has passed from protecting only 6 areas to protecting them all and it is no longer limited only to imported products but also European ones. A shirt produced in Europe is not necessarily better than one produced abroad and therefore labeling for products Made in the EU is also important.”

So, the Made In label, before being an ‘advertising’ issue, is a question of help for the consumer, in accordance to this proposal from the Committee?

“It is an additional element, made available to the buyer to evaluate the expense he is considering, which helps him make an informed decision. On the other hand the regulation on product origin has already been implemented – with comparable but not identical form – by our major trading partners: the US, Japan, China and Canada….Europe must accelerate, they cannot be left behind.”

But Europe doesn’t seem to be united – sensitivity on product safety is different between north and south.

“We have a solid understanding with France with whom we share the sensitivity for areas such as fashion. With other countries, where manufacturing is almost absent, less significant or even present but perhaps more as a brand – even good ones – which assembles products from different origins, there is less understanding. However we want to strengthen the sector, we want it to grown within our borders; we don’t want to relocate and we believe that this is an important value.”

What is the position from the Italian side? Are we divided, united, doubtful….

“There is great unity. The Commissioner for Industry, Antonio Tajani, is fighting like a lion and the MEPs are doing the same from every party: from Niccolò Rinaldi to Patrizia Toia, from Cristiana Muscardini to Raffaele Baldassare, European People’s Party shadow rapporteur.”  I must admit that it is truly a beautiful war machine; they are all doing an exceptional job.”

 So you have high hopes this time? 

“On the 17^th there will be this vote that, and I say this with measured optimism, it does us good to hope, in light of the great unity. However, then it will go to Council, to governments, where there are numerous difficulties and there we will ask for a supplementary efforts from the government, which must bring home the results. (Here Ferrarini gets worked up, smiling, but she is passionate, editor’s note). We must do it, we expect maximum efforts – we expect it!”