Authorities report dramatic improvement after introduction of new flag regulation and major fines against Biedronka and Kaufland
The amount of fresh fruit and vegetables sold under the wrong country of origin label in Poland has been cut dramatically, according to the country’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK).
The news follows the introduction of a new regulation, in February, which requires fruit and vegetables sold in shops to be marked with the flag of the country where they were grown.
According to UOKiK, inspections carried out by Poland’s Trade Inspection Authority (TIA) found that no more than 0.73 per cent of batches assessed were incorrectly labelled.
The picture was apparently very different seven years ago, when the agency began inspecting country-of-origin labelling in response to what it describes as “numerous” consumer complaints.
Widespread inaccuracies
In July 2019, the TIA inspected 96 outlets belonging to 18 different chains, where it reportedly found irregularities in 118 of 1,162 batches sampled, and in almost one-third of the stores.
Subsequent inspections in a larger number of outlets found labelling to be missing or incorrect in a similar number of instances and a similar proportion of stores.
As a result, UOKiK took legal action against Jeronimo Martins Polska, owner of the Biedronka chain, and against Kaufland Polska Markety, arguing that customers of these chains were being misled.
Those proceedings resulted in a fines of over 60mn zlotys (€12.2mn) and 13.2mn zlotys (€2.68mn) for Biedronka / Jeronimo Martins and Kaufland respectively – although the Kaufland case is pending an appeal.
“Accurate and truthful product information is one of the most important consumer rights,” said UOKiK president Tomasz Chróstny. “Our investigations confirmed that customers of Biedronka and Kaufland stores did not have clear information about the origin of fruit and vegetables. A different country was indicated on the shelf label and a different one on the packaging.”
That now appears not to be the case in the majority of instances, he added. “For many people, it is important to support Polish suppliers and choose Polish products, which is why shops should not mislead consumers.”
