The Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) has expressed its appreciation that an amendment to the European Union’s food labeling laws was set aside by the European Council of Ministers which met on Monday.
The Council approved a draft of new food information regulation which doesn’t include amendment 205 calling for all meat products derived from animals slaughtered by shechita or Jewish ritual slaughter to be labeled "meat from slaughter without stunning".
The amendement vas voted in June by the European Parliament, the EU’s legislative body, but extensive lobbying efforts were made against it by the Jewish community.
"It is vitally important that the ministers sent a clear message that this amendment is problematic and discriminatory," Rabbi Arye Goldberg, Deputy Director of the Brussels-based RCE said.
The RCE is an organization dedicated to meeting the needs of Jewish communities in Europe.
He said however that "the battle is not won", as the new draft will return to the European Parliament for a second reading in 2011.
"We must be vigilant to prevent this amendment from eventually passing," Rabbi Goldberg added.
“There is still a long road ahead and while we have won the battle we have not yet won the war. This type of labeling would create a major blow for European Jewry if passed.”
The new draft will return to the European Parliament for a second reading in 2011 when Amendment 205 could be reintroduced.
“We will continue to work on ensuring that the Jews in Europe will continue to maintain our religious practices without discrimination or any other difficulties,” Rabbi Goldberg said.
Campaign group Shechita UK has explained that the amendment could cause kosher prices to rocket because buyers from the non-kosher market, which consumes 70 per cent of shechita-slaughtered meat, might be put off by the labelling.