After customs find contraband under carrots, growers call for the farmer's name on vegetable labels

After customs officers uncovered contraband concealed under a load of carrots, a representative of a farmers' cooperative is publicly calling for a change to food labelling rules in Latvia. In his view, the issue is not only about cigarettes but also about how the vegetables used as cover end up on the market.

Cheap carrots and the local producer

The author claims that such cover cargo is usually not thrown away, because disposal costs money. Instead, he says, the carrots are sold at a puzzlingly low price, since they do not need to earn a profit, only to disappear from a warehouse. They then reach shelves next to local produce, and shoppers mostly never learn where they came from. As a result, he argues, local growers compete with a price that is not based on the cost of growing.

He says every link in the chain acts formally correctly: the government says it can do nothing, the Food and Veterinary Service (PVD) says it cannot establish a violation, and shops rely on their partners and delivery paperwork.

The proposed change

At present, vegetable labels must state the country of origin and the packer or seller. Naming the grower is only voluntary, and the author's cooperative already does so. He proposes making it mandatory to name the grower or producer rather than the carrier or seller, applying it at least to local vegetables immediately. He says he has put the proposal forward before without a response.

He also cites the European Union's Packaging Regulation, applied since 12 August, which requires naming the packaging manufacturer but not the grower of the vegetable inside. A grower's name on a crate, he says, would allow checks on whether that grower exists, has the relevant acreage and whether the volumes sold match what could be grown.

The author calls on the new government and the new agriculture minister to advance the amendment in their first months.