UK supermarket chain Asda will be in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg this week battling for the right to continue slicing its Parma ham and grating Italian cheese on delicatessen counters at UK stores.
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The Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma, a consortium of Italian ham producers, have complained that an Italian law declaring that Parma ham should be sliced and packed in Parma should be applied across the EU. During the late 1990s, Asda won several court cases in UK courts on the issue, but this week it will be heard by the ECJ in conjunction with a similar case brought against a French company, Ravil. Ravil wants to continue grating its Grana Padano cheese outside of the Italian Po Valley.
“This Parma trauma has gone on for too long,” said Asda’s chilled food director Penny Coates. “No one doubts that Scotch beef remains Scottish if sliced in Southampton; Jersey potatoes are still Jerseys when boiled in Blackpool; Cheddar’s still Cheddar if grated in Gretna. We’ll be asking the court to apply a little common sense.”
Judgement is expected in six months’ time and if the ECJ rules against Asda, slicing and grating of these kinds of products on in-store delicatessen counters may become a thing of the past.
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