The new requirement to clearly state the country of origin of food products creates major difficulties and requires considerable investments to afford, as LETA was told by interviewed retailers.
Rimi Latvija representatives told LETA that Rimi supports meaningful and justified solutions that encourage the consumption of local products, but the company has previously expressed in conversations with state authorities that the requirement to indicate the country of origin on the price tags of food products is, from the point of view of retailers, a hasty, ill-considered and technically difficult process to implement.
The company’s representatives also say that there are concerns regarding the benefit for consumers from this new requirement, as it could mislead buyers if, for example, an EU-made product, which is associated with security and quality, is labelled as “Origin unknown”. The new requirement also means a new financial burden for retailers.
Maxima Latvija representatives told LETA that the new regulations impose a significant burden – it is now necessary to remake and replace all price tags for tens of thousands of products. On top of that, in order to ensure the correct information is stated, it is necessary to perform an investigation with partners, as well as adapt the IT infrastructure.
At the same time, Maxima Latvija representatives said that the company will adapt to regulations, as well as make sure the changes do not affect the prices of goods sold in Maxima stores. For example, it is planned to continue highlighting Latvian-made products with special labels.
The company’s representatives say that they are in favour of stating important information on price tags, as most price tags used by Maxima have included this information even before the new regulations were adapted, adding that the company has now actively started placing new price tags in the company’s stores, despite the fact that there is still uncertainty about the presentation of correct information in them. Also, there is still discussion about the guidelines, where additional solutions will be needed.
Retailer Elvi Latvija board member Laila Vārtukapteine told LETA that the company had previously incorporated the possibility of indicating on price tags the country of origin of the goods, which was used to highlight the country of origin of fruits, vegetables and fresh meat. With this functionality, the countries of origin of groceries on the price tags in the Elvi stores are indicated. However, improvements are still needed to bring price tags fully into line with the requirements of the regulations.
She admitted that implementation of new regulations does provide numerous complications. Rules specifying the requirements for indicating the country of origin, including the size of the indication and other nuances, were adopted only on the 13th of August, giving trading companies only 13 working days to find a solution on how to put the requirements into practice.
There is not enough time to come up with and develop a new price tag design and perform physical replacement of each and every price tag in all stores, said Vārtukapteine, adding that the implementation of new requirements requires time, human resources and investments, which could reach EUR 20 000 for Elvi network of stores.
Stockmann representatives told LETA that the requirement on the placement of the country of origin on price tags has already been completed by the company, as information regarding the product’s country of origin is printed out both on physical and digital price tags.
The company’s representatives also explain that in the category of fresh products – fruits, vegetables, meat and fish – countries of origin are not fixed, this is why changes to them are quite frequent,
whereas printing new price tags requires time. The company has also so far tried to indicate the country of origin for as many product categories as possible, especially for products in the fresh category.
Lidl Latvija representatives told LETA that to lower the use of paper and optimise work in stores, all stores in Latvia had adopted electronic price tags as early as December 2022. Until now, the country of origin was indicated in the price tags for fruits and vegetables, while for products of animal origin this information was indicated on the product packaging. In order to comply with the new rules, the company is in contact with the relevant authorities to clarify the details, since there are nuances that must be taken into account when using electronic price tags.
Lidl representatives said that, considering experience from various discount actions, residents do not always pay attention to what is written on the price tag. The price remains the only important piece of information most residents pay attention to. This is why it is too early to say if the new requirements could achieve their stated goals.
The company’s representatives also hope state institutions will meet retailers halfway and adapt the new rules based on each individual retailer’s technical capabilities.
Mego representatives told LETA that price tags in Mego stores already state all the necessary information, country of origin included. The company had added changes before the new requirements were adopted.
On the 13th of August, 2024, Latvian government supported the rules developed by the Ministry of Agriculture, which require retailers and other stores to state the country of origin of the food products they sell in order to improve customer awareness about the origin of the products they buy.
Information on the country of manufacture must be indicated, at the choice of the trader, on the price tag of the product, group of products or at the point of sale, if all the products contained therein were manufactured in one country. The country in which the foodstuff is produced may be indicated in writing with the name of the country or the image of its flag. In order not to single out the products of the aggressor countries produced in Russia or Belarus, these countries should be indicated only in writing.