Beyond Food Safety – EU Food Information Standards as a Facilitator of Political Consumerism and International Law Enforcement Mechanism

Abstract

In Case C-363/18 Organisation juive européenne, Vignoble Psagot Ltd v Ministre de l’Économie et des Finances (“Occupied Territories case”), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU or Court) was tasked with deciding what information on its country of origin or place of provenance is mandatory for business according to existing European legislation. This casenote summarizes the interpretative decisions taken by the Advocate General Hogan (Advocate General or AG) and the Court in their opinion and judgment, respectively. It then considers the broader implications of this case from several perspectives: first, from the perspective of political consumerism and its (potential) role in EU internal market law; second, from the perspective of the enforcement of international law; and third, from the perspective of the coherence of EU food and consumer law including its behavioural dimension.

Keywords: Free movement of goods, Food Law, Food information law, food labelling law, international law, consumer interests, country of origin, place of provenance