Protecting producers in the name of consumers

Country of origin labeling is in fashion in the EU. The European Parliament is pushing for mandatory origin labeling on a large basket of imports, including leather goods, textiles, footwear, ceramic products, furniture and jewelry. In another initiative, the European Parliament wants to make the indication of the country of origin obligatory for fresh agricultural products, and, in the case of single-ingredient processed products, of the provenance of the agricultural raw material.

The...