France Asks European Court of Justice to Clarify Legality of Alt Meat Labelling Ban

The governmental body is requesting information on whether individual member states can introduce this type of law, or whether EU-level harmonisation prevents this. If it is considered allowable to introduce the law, the Conseil D’Etat is seeking clarification on whether the decree is a proportionate way of achieving the goal of consumer transparency.

The requests come in response to a court case brought by The European Vegetarian Union (EVU) and other parties — who claim that the decree violates EU law — against the Conseil D’Etat. Once the ECJ has provided clarification, the court case will resume.

The decree was initially published last year, with the intention of banning the use of terms such as “steak” and “sausage” on plant-based foods. France was the first EU country to attempt to introduce this type of ban, backed by the country’s meat industry and farming lobby. However, the decree was suspended before it could take effect, after the body Protéines France lodged an urgent application for interim relief.

The developments in France echo those in another country, South Africa, which also attempted to ban the use of meat-like terms on plant-based products last year. Meanwhile, other countries such as Australia and Belgium have also proposed restrictions on the way plant-based products can be marketed, leading to condemnation from organisations such as ProVeg International.

Vegconomist