Following the debate which took place during the sitting of 11 November 2009, the European Parliament adopted by 529 votes to 27 with 37 a resolution on origin marking.

The resolution had been tabled by the EPP, S&D, Greens/ALE and ALDE groups.

Parliament reiterates that consumer protection requires transparent and consistent trade rules, including indications of origin. It notes that at present, the EU does not have any harmonised provisions or uniform practices on origin marking. Disparities between regulations in force in the Member States as well as the absence of clear Community rules in this area are resulting in a fragmented legal framework.

Parliament notes that national measures imposing compulsory origin marking on goods imported from other Member States are prohibited, while there is no such limitation on compulsory origin marking on goods imported from third countries. However, a number of the EU's major trading partners, such as the United States, China, Japan and Canada, have enacted mandatory origin-marking requirements. Parliament calls on the Commission and the Council:

to take all necessary steps to ensure a level playing field with trading partners which have enacted origin-marking requirements. An origin marking scheme would have the aim of allowing consumers to be fully aware of the country of origin of the products they purchase; to set up proper customs surveillance and enforcement mechanisms; strongly to intervene, together with the Member States, to defend consumers’ legitimate rights and expectations whenever there is evidence of fraudulent or misleading origin marking by importers and third country producers.

Members States are urged to maintain a consistent Community approach to this issue so as to enable consumers to receive more complete and accurate information. Parliament regards compulsory origin marking as an important step towards more complete information about social and environmental production and processing standards.

Parliament notes that the 2005 Commission proposal for a Council regulation on the indication of the country of origin of certain products imported from third countries ( COM(2005)0661 ), is restricted to a limited number of imported products, such as textiles, jewellery, apparel, footwear, furniture, leather, lamps and light fittings, glassware, ceramics and handbags, for which the 'made in' requirement provides valuable information for final consumer choice. This proposal is considered useful in reaching the objective of transparency and appropriate information for the consumer as well as consistency in international trade rules.

However, the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009 will put Parliament and the Council on an equal footing regarding the common commercial policy. Under Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union the ordinary legislative procedure will apply to future regulation on origin marking. Accordingly, Parliament calls on the Commission to maintain its proposal unchanged and resubmit it to Parliament in accordance with Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU immediately after the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force.