The Coordinator of Farmers and Livestock Organizations (COAG) has once again detected "serious breaches in the labeling of fruits being offered in large distribution chains. The current labeling rule is once again being breached, since the correct origin of the product for sale is not reflected, affecting its traceability and deceiving consumers that don't have reliable elements to make their purchasing decisions."
The COAG has been able to verify how imported melons and watermelons are offered for sale without specifying their origin, as well as how their origin is changed when they are offered in halves or quarters. "These new examples of unreliability are a major concern for customers. They are not anecdotal actions and they cast doubts on many of these companies' alleged prioritization of the national production and the traceability of products."
In this sense, COAG demands that commercial distribution chains comply with current labeling regulations in the sale of fruits and vegetables to consumers and not play with the origin of the products.
“This situation affects the consumers' freedom of choice, but it also affects our production. We're starting the watermelon and melon campaign, as well as the stone fruit campaign. The distribution sector continues to import products from third countries, affecting the placement of our products in the markets, especially when they don't state the real origin of those fruits in their labels, breaking the law,” stated Andrés Góngora, State Head of Fruits and Vegetables of COAG.
COAG also called on the competent authorities of the autonomous communities and municipalities to carry out exhaustive, immediate, and specific inspections of this situation, as well as to impose the corresponding sanctions for these serious breaches.
“Once again, supermarkets and hypermarkets push down on our prices at source at the start of our production campaign with the massive inflow of imports and causing speculation. It's a classic strategy of theirs. They harm farmers who produce summer fruit by importing produce from outside the EU, which is grown under much less demanding conditions than the ones we have to meet here,” stated Góngora.
For more information:
COAG
www.coag.org