On Monday 12 March, the European alcoholic beverages sector (wine, spirits, beer and cider) presented its proposal for a “common commitment” to the European commissioner for health, Vytenis Andriukaitis. The commitment in question relates to labelling containing nutritional data and ingredient information on products of the sector.
The indication of such data on the label has been mandatory since December 2014 for all foodstuffs except drinks containing over 1.2% of alcohol. In March 2017, the European Commission had given those working in the sector one year in which to present a proposal on labelling. The Commission will now decide whether or not to give its go-ahead to this provision.
The proposal of à la carte self-policing, prepared by the European associations representing producers of wine (CEEV, Cevi, Efow, Copa-Cogeca), spirits (spiritsEUROPE), beer (Brewers of Europe), and cider and fruit wines (AICV), provides for consumer information to be directly available either on the bottle and/or via an internet link, barcode, etc. Above all, appendages to the text stipulate the arrangements for implementation proper to each of the four branches of the sector. The dematerialised information will be easily accessible via the label itself, the organisations in the sector say. Each sector undertakes, moreover, to continue communication on progress made on this during the first two years of implementation of this provision.
The system must allow all stakeholders in the sector to implement such measures, including the smallest producers for whom the inscription of nutritional value directly on the bottle may prove complex and costly (for wine, such data change from one year to the next depending on weather conditions, for example).
In addition, for wine, the indication, or otherwise, of the eventual addition of sugar (a practice used by most northerly producers) has caused division between the professional organisations, with some of them – especially Italian cooperatives – pulling out of the project.
The European Commission will tackle this proposal and, if it does not find it satisfactory, it will examine “other possible options” that could prove less flexible. (Original version in French)