Consumer fraud in information on labels for fish

6.3.2014

Question for written answer E-002646-14
to the Commission
Rule 117
Antolín Sánchez Presedo (S&D)

New scientific research shows the depth of the fraud committed against consumers in fish labelling, to which I referred in my Question E-001836/2013.

In addition to the research carried out by the University of Oviedo between 2006 and 2010, which I referred to then, studies undertaken by the Spanish National Research Council warn of labelling fraud in proportions that range between 25% for fresh or frozen tuna, 12.2% for anchovy semi-preserves, 11.3% for tuna conserves and 6.5% for salted dry cod.

The alarm signals are multiplying. In 2011 the University of Oviedo together with the Aristoteles University of Greece showed that practically 40% of the hake sold in both countries contained wrong information about its origin. Research by the University of Dublin that same year showed that 28% of the cod products marketed in Ireland and the United Kingdom corresponded to cheaper species than what was indicated on the label.

On the other side of the Atlantic, a study commissioned last year by the environmental organisation Oceana revealed that in the United States 33% of the information on the origin of fish was misleading, while on this side preliminary research results, which have not yet been published, in Ireland and the United Kingdom calculate error rates of between 2% and 18%.

As a result of the horsemeat scandal we have learnt that fish comes in second place on the list of foods at risk of fraud, only surpassed by olive oil.

Has any progress been made in the past year in the ambit of checks on labels for fish and fish products? Has the Commission taken any new steps or does it intend to do so in order to ensure systematic and coordinated monitoring within the EU?

OJ C 355, 08/10/2014