EU Green light given to IRISH ACT ON HEATH LABELS ON ALCOHOL
Monday, 13 March 2023
industry-news
health
- On 21 June 2022, Ireland notified the Commission (via TRIS) and the Member States of its plans to introduce new rules and regulations on the labelling of alcoholic beverages in its territory. The proposals include mandatory health warnings (pictures and text) on bottle labels (including wine) about the danger of alcohol consumption and its link to fatal cancers.
- Nine Member States, including France, have submitted unfavorable detailed opinions. However, mid-January 2023, the European Commission gave its green light to the Irish proposal.
- HOTREC position remains the same: we oppose additional nutrition information/labelling requirements on non-prepacked food and drinks. The envisaged health warning labels are disproportionate and hamper any ‘wine in moderation campaign’. This could be also problematic to a well-functioning single market. This is what we conveyed to the European Commission a couple of months ago.
- HOTREC worries about the precedent it sets withing the EU. Impact: Irish hospitality establishments will have to adapt their operations, in particular, if health warning labels apply to non prepacked drinks ie a pint of beer or a glass of house wine.
- In addition, within the EU beating cancer plan, the EU was expected to publish a proposal on alcohol labelling by the end of 2023. Intelligence to date suggests that work on this file was postponed until further notice.