The European alcoholic beverages sectors deliver a self-regulation proposal on the list of ingredients and on the nutrition declaration

Brussels, 12 March 2018 – The European associations representing the alcoholic beverages sectors submitted today to the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Mr. Andriukaitis their self-regulatory proposal to provide ingredients listing and nutrition information for consumers about alcoholic drinks.

Without an EU legal obligation currently in place for alcoholic beverages above 1.2% alcohol by volume (abv) to show this information, the representative associations of the European wine, aromatised wine, spirits, beer and cider sectors have responsibly developed a meaningful and adapted voluntary solution to address consumer expectations about ingredients listing and nutritional information. The sectors have worked constructively together since the publication on 13 March 2017 of a European Commission report “regarding the mandatory labelling of the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration of alcoholic beverages”, to put forward a joint proposal to provide consumers with meaningful, clear and easy to understand information on these aspects. The sectors’ objective is to improve consumer knowledge about these products and to empower them to make informed decisions about the products that they choose to consume within a balanced lifestyle.

The key elements of the guiding principles drawn up by the European alcoholic beverages sectors are as follows:

The nutritional information and the list of ingredients of our products will be provided in tailor-made and meaningful ways;
The nutritional information and the list of ingredients will be given to consumers off-label and/or on the label. Off-label information will be easily accessible on the label itself;
Traditional and/or innovative tools will be used and comprehensive modern information systems could be developed;
Food business operators responsible for food information will decide how to display the information.

Sector-specific annexes for beer, cider, spirits and wine have been developed by each sector to further address concretely the process and modalities for implementing the joint proposal for each sector. The annexes are under the sole responsibility of each sector.

The European alcoholic beverages sectors will report on implementation in March 2021, with individual sectors also reporting within the first two years on progress concerning their commitments.

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Press contacts:

CEEV: Dr Ignacio Sanchez Recarte, +32 2 230 99 70, ceev@ceev.eu
CEVI: Ms Lorenza Romanese, +33 6 07 07 78 03
COPA COGECA: Ms Amanda Cheesley, +32 2 287 27 90, Amanda.cheesley@copa-cogeca.eu
EFOW: Ms Daniela Ida Zandonà , +32 2 733 50 58
spiritsEUROPE: Mr Ulrich Adam, +32 477 63 67 51, Adam@spirits.eu
The Brewers of Europe: Mr Jan de Grave, Communication Director, +32 2 551 18 10, jdg@brewersofeurope.org
AICV: Mr Bob Price, +44 77 67 75 7758, Bob@cideruk.com

Note to Editors

CEEV – Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins is the representative professional body of the EU industry and trade in wines. It brings together 23 national organizations covering all categories of wines: still wines, flavoured wines, sparkling wines, liqueur wines and other vine products. Its members produced the large majority of quality wines in Europe, with and without Geographical Indications.

CEVI – European Confederation of Independent Winegrowers is the organisation defending and promoting the role of independent winegrowers within Europe.

COPA and COGECA are the united voice of farmers and agri-cooperatives in the EU. Together, they ensure that EU agriculture is sustainable, innovative and competitive, guaranteeing food security to half a billion people throughout Europe. COPA represents over 23 million farmers and their families whilst COGECA represents the interests of 22,000 agricultural cooperatives. They have 66 member organisations from the EU member states. Together, they are one of the biggest and most active lobbying organisations in Brussels.

EFOW – European Federation of Origin Wines is a Brussels-based organisation representing PDO and PGI wines toward European and international institutions. As the voice of origin wines it actively defends and promotes the concept of Geographical Indications.

spiritsEUROPE proudly represents one of the most valuable European agri-food export and with it the interests of the spirits sector in 31 national associations as well as of the 8 leading multinational companies. Distilled spirits are as diverse as the EU itself, spanning 46 product categories and including a host of geographically-specific products that contribute to the culture of their regions (250 Geographical Indications). The net result? The sector generates over €23bn in excise duties & VAT; almost €11bn in exports all over the world; and employs 1 million people in production & sale.

The Brewers of Europe brings together national brewers’ associations from 29 European countries and provides a voice to support the united interests of Europe’s 8,500 breweries. The Brewers of Europe promotes the positive role played by beer and the brewing sector in Europe and advocates the creation of the right conditions to allow brewers to continue to freely, cost-effectively and responsibly brew and market beer across Europe.

AICV – European Cider and Fruit Wine Association, formally set up in 1968, with a permanent secretariat in Brussels, represents producers of cider and fruit wine producers from the following EU member states: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.