1 Labelling CEEV Board Brussels, 21 th March 2013

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Labelling

CEEV Board

Brussels, 21th March 2013

“A message in a bottle?...”

sales denomination

brandGI

country of origin

indication of provenance

varieties

elaboration methods

organoleptics

commercial “story”

tasting advice

ingredients

nutritional value

nutritional claims

health warnings

allergens

green dot

carbon footprint

milesorganic

vintage

company lot

serving facts

traditional terms

The “bottle field”...

Labelling, the battle field of often contradicting legitimate goals...

Product /brand communication and « user ’s guide ».

Allowing consumers to compare and make informed choices.

Information support for health, environmental, social legitimate concerns.

The “bottle field”...

The labelling “equation”:

Developments

ORIGINPressure to indicate the country of origin of the “main ingredient” if voluntary mention or if failing to do so would mislead the consumers.

INGREDIENTS AND NUTRITIONAL Alcohol beverages remained temporarily exempted, however the European Commission will produce a report with eventual proposals 3 years after the entry into force of the new regulation.

HEALTH WARNINGS / SERVING.Remains voluntary for the time being at EU level… however some attempts in various MS and some company’s CSR initiatives.

Working plan FIR

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FOOD LABELLING (« FIR » Reg 1169/2011)

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Working plan FIR FOOD LABELLING

(« FIR » Reg 1169/2011)

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Implementing act on the mandatory indication of the origin of INGREDIENTS that do not originate from the place of last substantial change (when product origin is voluntarily labelled)

13 December 2013

Required actions with deadlines: Art 26.3 FIR

Art 26.3 of Reg 1169/2011:

« Where the country of origin or the place of provenance of a food is given and where it is not the same as that of its primary ingredient:

(a)the country of origin or place of provenance of the primary ingredient in question shall also be given; or

(b) the country of origin or place of provenance of the primary ingredient shall be indicated as being different to that of the food.

The application of this paragraph shall be subject to the adoption of the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 8. »

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

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Art 26.3 FIR:

State of play and timeline:

• Economic study commissioned to external consultant to prepare implementing rules;

• The consultant has sent a list of questions to stakeholders: trade federations, consumers associations, national authorities…

• In addition, individual interviews with stakeholders until February 2013;

• The consultant was expected to submit a final draft report to the European Commission end February 2013;

•Final report will be used as impact assessment of the implementing rules to be drafted by the European Commission;

•Steering group for implementing rules will include DG AGRI+ DG ENTR;

•Draft implementing rules to be ready by mid 2013.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

INGREDIENTS & NUTRITIONAL LABELLING

Required actions with deadlines:

Regulation 1169/2011, art 16

« By 13 December 2014 the Commission shall produce a report concerning the labelling of ingredients and nutrition labelling for alcoholic beverages, an addressing whether alcohol beverages should in future be covered, in particular, by the requirement to provide the information on the energy value, and the reasons justifying possible exemptions, taking into account the need to ensure coherence with other relevant EU policies. In this context, the Commission shall consider the need to propose a definition of ‘alcopops’.

The Commission shall accompany that report by a legislative proposal, if appropiate, determining the rules for a list of ingredients or a mandatory nutrition declaration for those products.

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Report on alcoholic beverages for the on mandatory ingredients and nutrition labelling declaration (in particular the energy value)

13 December 2014

Preliminary step: to collect all information and valuable experiences on the subject, taking place both in Member States and third countries;

Questionnaire addressed to Member States requesting:o if there is specific national legislation on the subject for any category of Abs;o If there is any ongoing/foreseen changes in regard to this legislation,o if there is any relevant piece of consumer research in regard to the labeling of Abs

in general and to ingredients and nutrition labeling in particular;o If there are voluntary initiatives by Abs' industry.

Possibility to externalize an study to a consultant explored, due to the complexity of the subject

Next steps:o No official working calendar scheduled yet;o Way forward to be discussed with Member States by April 2013.


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Report on alcoholic beverages for the on mandatory ingredients and nutrition labelling declaration (in particular the energy value)

13 December 2014

Industry action needed:

Comprehensive updated set of detailed factual, economic and legal arguments in favor of a permanent exemption.

IngredientsNutritional – energy value.


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12+1 reasons:Why

a mandatory list ofingredients and energy value

Is NOT appropriate for wine products

Wines labellingINGREDIENTS + NUTRITIONAL

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1. Wines are agricultural products, defined as such by the EU Treaties and the Wine Common Market Organisation

Wine is a mono-product which corresponds to a legal definition: “product obtained exclusively from the total or partial alcoholic fermentation of fresh grapes, whether or not crushed, or of grape must” -Wine rules in the CAP Single CMO Regulation 1234/2007-.

All those parameters are themselves defined in the EU Wine rules inside the CAP Single CMO Regulation:

-The raw material cannot be anything other than grapes-The alcohol that it contains is the result of fermentation-It is not allowed to add water.

INGREDIENTS + NUTRITIONAL

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2.- Wine is submitted to an exhaustive and extremely detailed regulation at EU

(CMO) and national level.

Wines are fully regulated and controlled by an extremely comprehensiveCommon Market Organisation (R. 1234/2007 and R.1601/91, completedamong others by Commission Regulation 607/2009 on wine labelling).

It covers production disciplines, oenological practices,manufacturing methods, and means of presentation and labelling ofwines, aimed at ensuring that consumers are properly protected andInformed, whilst allowing for the proper functioning of the Internal Market.

• Soils and production areas;• Authorised vine varietals and conditions for their indication on the label;• Winemaking methods, oenological treatments allowed and conditions of use;• the sales definition including the alcoholic strength, dosage, vintage and variety for

each qualities/types of wines• Harmonised labelling regarding the different characteristics and qualities


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3.- Ingredient list for wines would be INCONSISTENT with the Agricultural policy for Wines (Common Market Organisation)

A mandatory list of ingredients for wines would question political compromises reached at the Council of Ministers and the EP for the existing EU Wine policy in the framework of the CAP.

> After in-depth debate, the Council and the European Parliament did explicitly agree that substances used in winemaking under authorised oenological practices - such as acidification, and enrichment with sugar - should NOT be submitted to mandatory labelling.


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4.- Only substances included in the EU positive list of oenological practices and treatments, based upon international OIV standards, can be used for the production of wine.

These Wine specific regulations establish in an exhaustive positive list the products and oenological treatments allowed to be used in the production process, together with the conditions for their use: any oenological practice not included in this list is prohibited.

-> This is a relevant difference between wine production and that of other food and drinks.


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5.- Wine is not the result of fixed manufacturing recipes.

As an agricultural product, wine changes from one year to another depending on the characteristic of the harvest.

Each wine, even from the same producer and from the sameterroir, is unique. Soil, weather, geology, varietals, and thestyle of wine making employed, are all decisive yet variable factors that give each wine a unique character.

• So, wine is not made in an entirely consistent way each year.

• Winemakers have to take account of the characteristic of that year’s harvest and deploy the appropriate oenological practices and treatments.


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6.- Apart from processing aids, most of the substances that are allowed to be used in winemaking are also naturally present: ingredients list would not provide relevant information to consumer.

The use of oenological practices is only allowed to facilitate theexpression of the basic product qualities: the substances used, naturallypresent in musts and wines, are mainly corrections to the natural compositionaimed at a final product of better quality.

-> Therefore ingredients list would NOT provide relevant information to consumers upon which to make an informed CHOICE

EXAMPLE: natural acids could be added to a wine with insufficient acidity, and would in such a case feature in the ingredients list, but the final level of acid could be less than in a wine with a natural high level, but with no declaration in the ingredients list.


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7.- Any final ingredient list cannot be known until shortly before the wine is bottled.

Because Wine is a natural fermented product, not made to a fixed manufacturing recipe:

The oenological practices to be used are dependent on the characteristic ofindividual batches of wine;

In many cases any final list of ingredients will not be known, and therefore the ingredients list cannot be printed, until shortly before each individual batch of wine is packaged.

Wine characteristics and composition changes as it ages: the product evolves in the bottle.

Wine mature and evolves not only in the casks, but also in the bottle. Therefore, the composition reflected in an eventual ingredient list would not necessarily inform consumer about the exact nature and characteristic of the product (i.a, tannins, sugars, fruit character)


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8.- Disproportionate cost implications for a sector mainly composed by SMEs

Mandatory ingredient listing would result in the sector incurring huge additional costs for, i.a.:

• productions and printing of labels• equipment • logistics and additional delays• reduction in the line speed • record keeping storage,• more storage capacity needed• label wastage and loss of economy of scale when ordering labels in small

quantities, etc..

The impact of the cost implications related to mandatory ingredients labelling for alcoholic beverages would be higher for the wine sector, which is mainly composed by small and medium enterprises.


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9.- Consumer expectations must be taken into consideration• The diversity in consumers’ perception and their information needs should be

taken into account. It is important requests for food information are evidence based.

• Consumer research conducted by OPTEM for DG SANCO in 2005, reported that :

Wine is considered to be « a product close to nature and the soil », «a product of pleasure and taste » (…) with a highly cultural dimension (…) which largely escapes the concerns expressed by consumers concerning other foods as regards health, dietary information …

-> Compulsory ingredients or energy value declarations would not respond to consumers expectations on wine labelling.


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10.- “Wine” is actually legally recognised as being fully descriptive of the nature and content of the product.

EU Regulation No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers - Annex I:

when WINE is an ingredient of another foodstuffs, it can be designated simply by the name of the category (« WINE »), instead of listing the ingredients.

-> For the sake of consistency, the same approach should be adopted for wine as such, not being part of another foodstuff.


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11.- International trade of wine would be adversely affected

- Different rules for the labelling of wines would erect unnecessary burdens on international trade and higher costs for companies

- Harmonisation of wine labelling regulations between major producing countries/regions in the world.

For instance: • there is no ingredient or listing in major wine partners like US.• Reflection on proposals regarding nutritional label


LABELLING OF NUTRITIONAL DECLARATION

12. Imposing a mandatory labeling of energy value would be contradictory with the ban of nutritional claim for alcohol beverages. Wine, as other alcohol beverages, are not allowed by the EU legislation to provide nutritional claims on voluntary basis. In particular it was considered that, on the grounds of a proper consumer protection and health, nutritional information on alcohol beverages would be not be allowed, event if founded on scientific evidence, as it could confuse the consumers about alcohol beverages as being a source of nutritional value, and about the sensible consumption of the concerned products. Imposing a mandatory labeling of energy value would be contradictory with the ban of nutritional claim for alcohol beverages. Any proposal for introducing a mandatory labeling of nutritional values on alcohol beverages should be accompanied by a review of the existing ban of nutritional claims on alcohol beverages (Council Regulation 1924/2006)

LABELLING OF NUTRITIONAL DECLARATION

12+1. Exhaustive wine legislation ensures that consumers are properly informed about the main vectors for calories in wine The only relevant vectors for calories in wines are a) alcohol and b) sugar content. The indication of alcohol content on the label is already compulsory and the modalities of this indication are precisely defined in the EU legislation

For some wine categories alcohol is the only relevant vector of energy. So the energy content depends exclusively on the alcohol content.

For other wine categories which contains sugars, also the indication of sugar content is already addressed by specific wine legislation:

For instance, the definitions of the products (vin doux naturel, etc) and mentions addressing the sugar content (brut, sec, demi-sec..) are already regulated by the wine legislation (Council regulation 1234/08 and Commission regulation 607/2009).

LABELLING OF WINE INGREDIENTS?

What’s an ingredient?

Regulation 1169/2011 art 1

‘Ingredient’ means any substance or product, including

flavourings, Reg 1334/2008

food additives, Reg 1333/2008

and food enzymes, Reg 1332/2008

and any constituent of a compound ingredient, used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and still present in the finished product, even if in an altered form; residues shall not be considered as ‘ingredients’.


What’s a food additive?

Reg 1333/2008 art 3.2

‘Food additive’ shall mean any substance not normally consumed as a food in itself and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient of food, whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport or storage of such food results, or may be reasonably expected to result, in it or its by-products becoming directly or indirectly a component of such foods;


What’s a food enzyme?

Reg 1332/2008 art 3.2

Food enzyme’ means a product obtained from plants, animals or micro-organisms or products thereof including a product obtained by a fermentation process using micro-organisms:(i) containing one or more enzymes capable of catalysing a specific biochemical reaction; and(ii) added to food for a technological purpose at any stage of the manufacturing, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport or storage of foods;


What’s a flavouring?

Reg 1334/2008 art 3.2

Flavourings’ shall mean products:(i)not intended to be consumed as such, which are added to food in order to impart or modify odour and/or taste;(ii) made or consisting of the following categories: flavouring substances, flavouring preparations, thermal process flavourings, smoke flavourings, flavour precursors or other flavourings or mixtures thereof;

Relevant for aromatized wine- based products only? What about oak chips…?


Are all ingredients to be labelled ?

Reg 1169/2008 art 20:« Omission of constituents of food from the list of ingredients »

(…) (b) food additives and food enzymes:

(i) whose presence in a given food is solely due to the fact that they were contained in one or more ingredients of that food, in accordance with the carry-over principle referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 18(1) of Regulation (EC) No1333/2008, provided that they serve no technological function in the finished product; or(ii) which are used as processing aids;

(c) carriers and substances which are not food additives but are used in the same way and with the same purpose as carriers, and which are used in the quantities strictly necessary; (d) substances which are not food additives but are used in the same way and with the same purpose as processing aids and are still present in the finished product, even if in an altered form;

(…)


What’s a processing aid?

Reg. 1333/2008 art 3.2

‘Processing aid’ shall mean any substance which:

(i) is not consumed as a food by itself;

II) is intentionally used in the processing of raw materials, foods or their ingredients, to fulfil a certain technological purpose during treatment or processing; and

(iii) may result in the unintentional but technically unavoidable presence in the final product of residues of the substance or its derivatives provided they do not present any health risk and do not have any technological effect on the final product;


So which wine ingredients to be potentially labelled?

Oenological practices that do not meet the definition of «processing aid»______________________________________________

Objective-> the maximum of oenological practices being considered as processing aids

Our shared challenge: to provide for technical inputs to justify oenological practices being considered as processing aids.

Exploring the criteria for wines… technological function in final productnaturally present in the raw materialresidues in final product

LABELLING OF NUTRITIONAL DECLARATION?

Alternative solution:

Universally available standard information through means alternative to systematic labelling on each package;

Ranges of typical energy values (calories) by type of products taking into account specific typical ranges of alcohol strenght and legal tolerances

Our shared challenge:

To provide for technical inputs to justify the opportunity and workability of this alternative solution

• Communication.- To prospect opportunities for allowing the Wine Sector to become more transparent and consumer friendly in the way the nature and content of the product is communicated.

• Dialogue and coordination Within the wine value chain and the world wine sector in order to promote global solutions to • enhance the position of wine in our communities and• minimize disproportionate burdens and barriers to

trade.

Turning Threats into Opportunities

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Thank youContact details:

Aurora AbadJose Ramon Fernandez

CEEV-Comité Européen des Entreprises VinsComité Vins Vins, Vins Aromatisés, Vins Mousseux, Vins de Liqueur et Autres Produits de la Vigne

Av. des Arts 43B-1040 [email protected]@ceev.bewww.ceev.beTel: +32 2 230 99 70Fax: +0032 2 513 02 18GSM: +32 495 28 18 42

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ceev.be/

Documents

1 Labelling CEEV Board Brussels, 21 th March 2013