Caitríona Redmond: Consumers set to benefit from changes at EU level

Consumers can expect changes to distance contracts, and the labelling of honey and meat

Withdrawing from an online contract must be extremely transparent and include an initial step and a second, confirm-withdrawal option.

June has been a very busy month for consumers in the EU so far, and there is no sign of things letting up. 

The EU now requires traders to provide a “withdrawal button” for distance contracts concluded online. This means anything bought online, such as goods, services, and even digital content or services, must have a statutory right of withdrawal. 

It’s a very interesting development, particularly as non-EU traders must also offer this right of withdrawal if selling to an EU citizen.

As with many legislative changes stemming from the EU, it’s all a little complicated.

Withdrawing from an online contract must be extremely transparent and include an initial step and a second, confirm-withdrawal option.

There are some exemptions to the withdrawal rule. These include travel tickets, concert tickets, hotel bookings and car hire. Specialist items that have been personalised are also exempt, along with personalised products and items that can fluctuate according to global markets, such as an oil order.

Goods bought from a private individual are also not covered by the right of withdrawal. This will particularly affect Vinted and eBay customers.

Ireland has been lagging in transposing these changes into law, but they still technically apply, even as Irish legislation plays catch-up. Consumers can expect to see the new withdrawal buttons on websites from this week.

Labelling rules 

Speaking of which, a long-awaited new country-of-origin labelling rule finally came into effect last week.

When it comes to honey, Irish single-origin raw honey can be very expensive. I recently paid €9.50 for a jar, and it appears to be the going rate in Ireland at the moment. As a rule of thumb, the cheaper the honey, the more likely it is to be of poor quality.

Coming from a beekeeping household, it has been a source of great frustration to see honey on supermarket shelves with very little information about where it actually came from. Until now, origin declarations simply said “a blend of EU honeys” or “a blend of EU and non-EU honeys”, which didn’t give much indication of the exact country the honey came from.

Under the new EU labelling rules, honey brought to market after June 14, 2026, will have to indicate all countries of origin. What’s more, the list will be in descending order of weight, with each country’s percentage contribution.

The label must also be in the “principal field of vision”, according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, meaning it must be easily visible when taking the item off the shelf.

I believe this is a significant change and of benefit for consumers who want to make an informed choice when buying honey. I also think some people may be in for a bit of a shock when they realise the actual blends of the honey they’ve been eating.

For now, consumers won’t notice a huge change in the supermarket. Existing stocks of honey will remain on the market for some time, so keep an eye on shelves over the next few months and be aware of the new label changes. Consumers may soon begin to appreciate the hard work that Irish beekeepers carry out to produce raw Irish honey and preserve a way of life that contributes to vital pollination across the island.

End to cauliflower 'steaks'

Another change for consumers will mean they will no longer see cauliflower “steaks” on the shelves, and they will see more transparent food pricing.

Last week, MEPs in the European Parliament voted for measures intended to support farmers and protect specific terms used to describe common meat products.

Under the new measures, we will no longer see terms such as “steak” or “bacon” used when describing food that has been lab-grown or manufactured from plants. Meat will now be defined as “edible parts of animals” and protected by law, which will see the end of talking about “cauliflower steak” or “corn ribs”. 

Some of the new terms are obvious as they relate to the type of meat, but drumstick, sirloin, flank, steak, ribs, thigh, and bacon will be protected in the EU once the final bill is written into law.

Although a lot of focus has been placed on the naming conventions for food, the imminent measures will make sure the price of food products on the shelf reflects the actual cost of production and farmers’ incomes. Producer organisations will have more power when it comes to collective bargaining, and buyers may be prevented from circumventing these rules to ensure a fairer market for all.

Irish producers have long been saying the price of food on the supermarket shelf doesn’t reflect their efforts or labour. Once implemented, this is set to change, and that can only be a good thing.

Couple these three new changes with the new “de minimis” customs charge effective next week, and the EU has been ruffling quite a few feathers. It’s all setting up to be a very interesting six months as Ireland takes on the EU presidency from July 1 until the year’s end. According to the Irish Government, the key objectives are competitiveness, values, and security.

That indicates there may be many more lively discussions and changes in the pipeline.

Watch this space!

REDMOND RECOMMENDS

Since I first wrote about the imminent customs charges, I’ve been contacted by many consumers wondering about parcels dispatched from businesses in Northern Ireland. Good news for both businesses and consumers who order from NI: Parcels will not be subject to the new customs duty arrangements.

A spokesperson for Revenue said parcels may be seized or detained if items are ordered from outside the EU to Northern Ireland with the intention of shipping them onward to the Republic of Ireland.

The spokesperson added: “The customs authorities in Ireland and in the UK take any non-compliance around the movement of goods very seriously and will use their available powers to tackle such non-compliance.”

Before ordering online, always check where your products are being shipped from to prevent any nasty surprises.