Alcoholic Beverages

New specific labeling rules for wine and aromatised wine products

As part of the reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Regulation (EU) 2021/2177 was adopted in December 2021.

It was necessary to adopt the new, specific labelling rules for wines and aromatised wine products. The new labelling measures require wines and aromatised wine products to display, on a mandatory basis, the list of ingredients and the nutritional declaration, either on the label or through a digital support.

This regulation modernised the consumer information policy by allowing producers to make the newly required information available through e-labels.

Key Points:

Listing of ingredients causing allergies and intolerances must be on the “physical” label;
“Electronic” labels cannot contain any other information intended for sales or marketing purposes;
No user data can be collected or tracked through electronic means.

The adoption of new mandatory labelling rules will respond to consumers’ expectations and increase transparency, while harmonising adapted communication on wines and aromatised wine products.

By November 2023, all wines and aromatised wine products marketed in the EU, regardless of their origin, will have to display the list of ingredients and the full nutrition declaration on the label or online.

According to Regulation (EU) 2021/2117, the labelling of aromatised wine products marketed in the Union shall contain the following mandatory particulars:

(a) the nutrition declaration pursuant to Article 9(1), point (l), of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011; and

(b) the list of ingredients pursuant to Article 9(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

GS1 in Europe can help you!

Before adaptation you should consider the points below, which will be critical:

Data must be publicly published as an e-label
Data must be retrieved by consumers through a digital link
Digital link should be scannable through a 2D barcode

We can help industries to comply with the new legal requirements on consumer information, thanks to the GS1 standards.

Please find the GS1 in Europe implementation guideline titled “Use a QR code powered by GS1 Digital Link to inform consumers about alcoholic beverages_1.0” in the publications listed below.

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