Consumers in Europe Group News
Susan Knox, Chairman of Consumers in Europe group

AGM - All food issues Jeff Rooker MP speaks

At the Consumers In Europe Group Annual General Meeting on 23rd July the guest speaker was Jeff Rooker MP, Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. He referred to the Ministry advice on vitamins issued that day and the responsibility that the Ministry had for providing public information, before going on to talk about the more than 1,000 consultation responses made about the Food Standards Agency. He praised CEG's "positive and valuable contribution" to EU food policy discussions and to MAFF advisory groups.

He had appointed lay people to advisory committees and provided networking facilities for representatives. Surveillance and residue sampling results will, he promised, be published. Helplines and an Internet site have been established. He stressed his determination to open up the Department and provide information.

The new Food Standards Agency, he said, must gain the respect of all who work with it if it is to succeed. People will be appointed for their specialisms and experience.

CEG Chairman, Bob Gale, thanked the Minister for his informative talk and for staying to answer so many questions which included the regional and national approach to consistent food safety enforcement, genetically modified crops, and labelling laws.

New Officers for CEG

The AGM went on to receive the Accounts and the Report on its year's work. Dr. John Godfrey and Gretel Jones were elected Vice Chairmen of CEG for 1999. Dr. Godfrey is a biologist, a member of ERICA, the European Research into Consumer Affairs body, also a member of the MAFF Consumer Panel and the Commission Fisheries Advisory Committee. Gretel Jones is the Utilities and Consumer Affairs Policy Officer at Age Concern England and previously worked for the Consumers' Association and Consumers International.

Susan Knox (CEG Vice Chairman during 1994-98) took over the Chairmanship of CEG at the AGM and spoke warmly of Bob's work in consumer matters over many years. Susan Knox is advisor to the National Federation of Women's Institutes Home Affairs Committee, UK Alternate Member of the EU Consumer Committee and a member of the Consumer Panel of the Personal Investment Authority. All three new officers seem singularly well qualified and positioned to guide CEG into the Millennium.

There is a CEG briefing paper "Rev scheme"  available  (CEG 98109) at £5 from CEG at 20 Grosvenor Gardens, London. SW1W ODH. If you are an MEP you can have it free! For further information about CEG, its aims, objectives, publications and member organisations visit their Internet web-site www.ceg.co.uk

An inch at a time.....

In March Bob Gale wrote as Chairman of CEG to the then Consumer Minister Nigel Griffiths urging that the UK should go ahead, as planned, with the next stage of metrication. Since October 1995, all pre-packed items have had to be sold in metric quantities, but goods sold loose, such as fruit and vegetables and meat sold over the counter, are exempt. This exemption is due to expire on 31st December 1999 but has been under review by Ministers, no doubt weighing up (in metric of course) the consequences of allowing the exemption to expire. "The use of both metric and imperial measurements," said Bob, "is confusing to consumers and has been for many years."

CEG recognises that the final changeover will impose one-off costs on retailers, but none of these costs will be reduced by further delay. Perhaps we, at NfCG, should join in and urge the Minister to 'do it at the Millennium'.

Half a modified loaf

Consumers may soon find it a little easier to know whether they are buying foods with ingredients made from genetically modified (GM) soya and maize since, in May, EU Farm Ministers agreed new Labelling Regulations. However, CEG notes with disappointment that some foods and ingredients produced using genetic modification, but which do not contain detectable changes in their protein or 1)NA, will escape the Labelling Regulations. This will result, says CEG, in many processed foods not being labelled and consumers who object to GM per se will be unable to choose accordingly.

CEG believes that all foods should be labelled if they are produced from GM crops and that GM produce should be segregated and labelled throughout the food chain.

There was one bright spark in the deliberations. The Ministers threw out a Commission Proposal to allow labelling of foods that "may contain" CMOs as this description was not helpful to consumers.

Eco-labelling

The EU Eco-labelling scheme, set up in 1992 to promote the production of less environmentally damaging products by increasing consumer awareness, was criticised in the February I March issue of NfCG NEWS by the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (incpen). CEG also criticises the scheme. Research suggests that consumers are largely unaware of it and mistrust manufacturers' 'green' claims about their products. They call on the EU to refocus the scheme onto those products about which consumers actively seek information before purchase.

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