Food Law News - EU - 1997
24 February 1997: LABELLING - Labelling of Alcoholic Drinks
MAFF Letter, 24 February 1997
Labelling of Alcoholic Drinks
It had been originally proposed to include changes to the labelling of alcoholic drinks within the amendments to the labelling directive recently adopted (which included the QUID amendments). However it was not possible to gain agreement on the alcoholic drinks issue and this aspect was dropped from the proposal. The Commission did agree though to bring forward a separate proposal on this topic and it has now been published.
According to MAFF, it is effectively the text of the Commission's original proposal in 1992. It retains the principle that ingredient listing rules for the various alcoholic drink sectors should be decided either under whatever specific Community provisions are applicable to them or, in the absence of such provisions, by the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs. The sectors listed as having provisions are:
- wines (including sparkling wines, liqueur wines and semi-sparkling wines offered for sale to the consumer)
- partially fermented grape must
- spiritous beverages
- aromatized wines
The new text requires detailed rules for labelling the ingredients of alcoholic drinks to be adopted by 1 July 2001. These rules must enter into force simultaneously for all alcoholic drinks.
MAFF has requested comments by 21 March 1997
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