UK delay on new rules on food labelling for consumers and for organics

The UK Government communicated on 20 September 2022 that it would delay until 1 January 2024, the application of its new rules on labelling for consumers and labelling for organics.

In terms of the changes to rules on food labelling for consumers, operators are expected to make any required labelling changes for goods sold in Great Britain by 31 December 2023. These were expected to come into effect on 1 October 2022.

On the business name and address which has to be placed on the packaging or food label of pre-packed food products, it will only be possible to use a UK address for the FBO, or if the FBO is not in the UK, the address of the importer, based in the UK.

With respect to labelling of organic goods, the new rules on the statement of agricultural origin labelling guidance for Great Britain have been delayed from 30 September 2022 until 31 December 2023.

The new rules on the statement of agricultural origin labelling are as follows:

One of the following statements must be included on all organic pre-packed products produced in Great Britain:

· ‘UK Agriculture’ – where the agricultural ingredients are produced in the UK

· ‘UK or non-UK Agriculture’ – where the product is produced using a mixture of agricultural ingredients grown in the UK and outside the UK

· ‘Non-UK Agriculture’ – where the agricultural ingredients are produced outside the UK

An operator can use more specific references if 98% of a product’s agricultural ingredients are grown in a specific area. For example, milk from Northern Ireland can be labelled as ‘Northern Irish Agriculture’, or Welsh lamb can be labelled as ‘Welsh Agriculture’.

More information:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/food-labelling-giving-food-information-to-consumers

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/organic-food-labelling-rules

Contact: Lebo Mofolo, lmofolo@frucom.eu