Building a sustainable food framework was the topic of an opinion up for adoption in the March NAT Commission meeting; a topic that aroused a lot of interest from members, in particular, our Italian delegation on the thorny issue of health warning labels on alcohol products. 

Some of the key issues were explained in depth by President of the Veneto Regional Council, Roberto Ciambetti, who referred to the Irish initiative to introduce new health warning labels on alcohol products, as "undermining the smooth functioning of the Single Market. Mr Ciambetti declared that the Irish regime does "not distinguish between moderate and excessive alcohol consumption, nor does it distinguish between products that have very different alcohol rates". 

The consequences of such a move would be catastrophic. Mr Ciambetti outlined that the introduction of such measures could have a "huge impact on the entire wine sector in our regions, particularly in remote and rural areas".

The introduction of in vitro meat and laboratory produced food on European markets was another point he animatedly argued against. For Mr Ciambetti, the economic and social consequences, in particular, on livestock farms would be "devastating", warning that a decrease in the livestock sector could lead to "rural exodus". In this sense, efforts would focus more on providing the appropriate European instruments and incentives to reduce the impact of animal farming on the climate and the environment.