EU issues guidelines to expose companies with dual food standards
To crack down on companies allegedly selling lower quality products in Central and Eastern Europe, the European Commission has issued a set of guidelines to help countries make sure food producers are complying with EU law.
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have complained that some businesses are selling inferior foodstuffs and items with sub-par ingredients when compared with those sold under the same labels in Western Europe.
"Presenting two different products in the same branded packaging is misleading and unfair to consumers," said Vera Jourova, the European commissioner for consumers.
The new guidelines are meant to help member states determine whether companies are selling different quality products in different EU countries.
"It is high time to put an end to this practice, because this is not how the single market should work," Jourova said in a statement.
She said that the European Commission was not "naming and shaming" companies at this point, for lack of evidence.
"But when we have the evidence, I will not hesitate to advise the consumers not to buy these products," she said. (dpa)
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