Fish fraud: measures to prevent mislabelling are essential

"The EU needs to introduce stronger measures to put a stop to the fraudulent mislabelling of fish, including selling cheaper fish as higher quality fish. This is necessary to maintain consumer confidence", Mairead McGuinness MEP and Vice-President of the European Parliament said today, in supporting a European Parliament Resolution calling for action on the issue.

In 2011, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland found that one-fifth of fish sold in Irish shops was mislabelled, mainly with cheaper Saith sold as Cod. Meanwhile, a 2015 Oceana study of 280 fish samples sold in Brussels restaurants revealed over 31 percent were mislabelled. DNA analysis by the Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics at Leuven University found 95pc of the mislabelled fish involved the substitution of bluefin tuna for cheaper yellowfin tuna fish.

"The mislabelling of fish is an EU-wide problem and is a real concern for those working in the fisheries and aquaculture sector because of the potential damage to consumer confidence as a result," McGuinness said in Strasbourg.

"To be clear, the intentional and fraudulent mislabelling of fish species is a breach of EU regulations, including the Common Fisheries Policy, and may constitute a criminal offence under national law," McGuinness added.

"There is an onus on Member States to strengthen national controls, including on non-processed fish for restaurants and the catering sector, in an effort to tackle fraud and identify the stage in the supply chain where fish is mislabelled."

A majority of MEPs today endorsed the Resolution on the traceability of fishery and aquaculture products in restaurants and retail. The text calls on the Member States to strengthen their controls against such food fraud, and urges the European Commission and Member States to study what measures could be put in place to improve traceability.

McGuinness further stated that the substitution of high-quality species with lower-quality counterparts is a serious worry for the fisheries sector: "Traceability and trust are essential ingredients for consumer confidence in the food chain. Any fraudulent practices must be stamped out quickly and firmly."

MEPs also called for the creation of a working group to harmonise the implementation of traceability in all Member States and the setting-up of an external structure enabling the certification of voluntary claims for fishery and aquaculture products on the EU market.