South East MEP Sharon Bowles supports greater transparency of origin labelling on imported goods

9.45.00am GMT Thu 26th Nov 2009

Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles has supported a joint resolution in the European Parliament urging the Council of Ministers to resume their work on the draft resolution on the origin marking of certain imported products.

Sharon Bowles MEP said: "Consumers in the EU want to know where goods come from. It's no good if imported products appear on shelves without any indication of where, and by extension how, they were produced."

Since 2005 regulations on origin labelling have been increasingly exploited leaving some consumers exposed to poor quality products.

Sharon Bowles said: "When I buy something, I want to know where it has come from and that it has been produced to a certain standard.

"At a time when people are becoming increasingly concerned with value for money, it makes sense for the Commission to implement legislation that allows people to know where goods were made, to ensure that high, ethical standards of production have been met."

The Council of Ministers, which comprises of ministers from across the EU's 27 Member States, has been unable to adopt a common position on the origin markings issue.

Sharon Bowles said: "It is time Parliament and the Commission put pressure on the Council of Ministers to get on with it. They have been dithering on this issue for too long and that is why I voted in the European Parliament to take action."

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