In Ireland, alcoholic products will in future receive mandatory warnings, similar to packs of cigarettes. While the Irish government got the green light from the EU, Italian winemakers launched a counter campaign.
Ireland’s regulations are “unilateral, discriminatory and disproportionate,” said Micaela Pallini, president of Federvini, the federation of Italian wine producers. It is dangerous not to distinguish between abuse and habitual consumption. “Products from our Mediterranean agriculture are being criminalized without being able to achieve measurable and effective benefits in the fight against irresponsible consumption.”
“Direct attack on Italy”
More specifically, Irish regulations require warnings about the link between alcohol and the risk of cancer and liver disease to be affixed to all alcoholic beverages sold in the country. An EU decision has enabled the Irish government to issue the warnings. “This is a direct attack on Italy, the world’s largest wine producer and exporter with a turnover of more than 14 billion euros, more than half of which is generated abroad,” said representatives of the agricultural association Coldiretti.
Coldiretti’s president, Ettore Prandini, even accused the Scandinavian countries of an “excessive consumption of spirits”, which should not be equated with the “moderate and conscious consumption of quality products with a low alcohol content, such as beer and wine”.
Irish warning labels on wine are even worrying politicians in Rome. “This is not only a blatant mistake by the European institutions, but also a dangerous precedent, a threat to our wine producers, who already face unfair competition on a daily basis,” said a statement by the right-wing governing party Lega. .
Source: Krone
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