Article 9: Conditions of use of particulars in labelling

Labelling indications must not be likely to cause confusion as to the product’s origin or the existence and/or capacity of the people or companies appearing in the presentation.

1. Sales denomination
   1.               Sales denomination shall refer to one of the denominations indicated for spirituous beverages of vitivinicultural origin intended for direct human consumption included in part I, chapter 7 of the OIV International Code of Oenological Practices.  This may be complemented or substituted by the name of a geographical indication or denomination of origin if the spirituous beverage of vitivinicultural origin in question has the right to make use of it. This could be the same for the generic denomination “spirituous beverage” possibly complemented by the nature of the raw material used.
   2.               Generic denominations of spirituous beverages of vitivinicultural origin intended for direct human consumption listed in part I, chapter 7 of the OIV International Code of Oenological Practices shall not be used in any way, or any reference be made to them in the labelling or presentation, if:

a)       Neutral alcohol of agricultural or vitivinicultural origin, has been added.

b)       Distillates of vitivinicultural origin that do not correspond to the definition of spirituous beverage of vitivinicultural origin according to the International Code of Oenological Practices have been added.

c)       The minimum alcoholic strength required for the spirituous beverage of vitivinicultural origin in question has been reduced.

d)       Production practices authorised by the OIV have not been implemented.

1.3.              For mixtures of two or more spirituous beverages of vitivinicultural origin, where the final product does not relate to any of the definitions in part I, chapter 7 of the OIV International Code of Oenological Practices, the sales denomination shall be "Spirituous beverage". In the event that a spirituous beverage mix contains in its presentation one of the spirituous beverages defined by the OIV, the label shall obligatorily list the percentages, in descending order, expressed as pure alcohol, for each of the spirituous beverages used.

2. Name of manufacturer, packager or seller
   1.     The labelling shall display the name, registered name or denomination of at least one of the operators involved in the manufacturing or commercialisation process:

• The manufacturer, or producer
• The packager, or
• A seller or importer
• And, in all cases, the address.
  2.      The name of the person responsible may be:

• The family name of the natural person,
• Or the registered name of the company,
• Or the commercial name of the company that takes responsibility for the product prepacked by themselves or on their behalf.
  3.     To avoid confusion about the origin of the product, the Member States shall decide on the necessary measures.

3. Packaging ranges and nominal value
   1.     The nominal volume shall be written in figures and completed with the symbol or indication of all the letters of one of the following volume units:

• Litre (l) or (L)
• Centilitre (cl) or (cL)
• Millilitre (ml) or (mL)
  2.               The volume therefore indicated can be followed by a particular referring to another system of measurement (for example, the imperial system), provided that this does not result in any confusion about the quantity presented to the consumer.
  3.               Spirituous beverages of vitivinicultural origin, when targeting the final consumer, may be introduced in packages of any nominal value in accordance with the rules in force in the consumer country.
  4.     The methods for actual volume control will be those defined in the specific ISO and OIML standards.

4. Country of provenance or origin
   1.               In international exchanges, the official or usual name of the country of provenance or origin should be mentioned.
   2.               The indication shall be presented through expressions such as "product of…" or "produced in…" complemented by the name of the country of origin.
5. Acquired alcoholic strength
   1.               It must be displayed with the "%" symbol and with the words "volume", "vol.", or "vol" and may be followed by the words "alcohol", "alc.", or "alc".
   2.               The indication of acquired alcoholic strength expressed as a percentage of the product’s volume is obligatory on the labelling with a tolerance of ± 0.3% vol. according to the legislation of the producer country and/or consumer country.
6. Batch
   1.               The labelling of spirituous beverages should have an indication (sign, letter, number, etc.) enabling the identification of the batch to which the product belongs, which is to be displayed so that it is easily visible, clearly legible and indelible.
   2.               The indication of the batch shall be determined and placed under the responsibility of one or more of the operators named in section 2, with special recommendations for handling the goods received by the packager.
   3.               It shall be preceded by the letter "L", except in cases where it is clearly distinguished from the other indications on the labelling.
7. Year of harvest
   1.               The year of harvest may be indicated on the labelling of spirituous beverages of vitivinicultural origin and shall be considered to be the year when the grape harvest took place if all grapes are from the same harvest, which shall be indicated in the following manner: “Harvest … [Year]”.
   2.               The manufacturer, packager or, where appropriate, seller responsible shall provide evidence of the certainty of these indications for the authorities of the country of production or commercialisation.
8. Distillation and production techniques
   1.               The labelling of spirituous beverages of vitivinicultural origin may display particulars related to special distillation or production techniques that may be of special interest to the consumer.
   2.               The person responsible shall provide evidence of the certainty of these indications to the authorities of the country of production or commercialisation.
9. Recognised ageing particulars or ageing duration
   1.               Provided that a regulation defines the ageing conditions and their monitoring, an ageing particular or an ageing duration can only be used if the ageing period is longer than the minimum ageing period required for the standard product (which only bears the generic term as a sales denomination) and provided that it is controlled by an official body of the Member State. 

In any case, in the event of a blend, ageing can only refer to the age of the youngest component.

9.2.              However, in cases where an aging system is followed (as long as it is controlled by an official body belonging to a Member State), involving the carrying out of periodic samples and replenishments of fractions of the contents of the containers, in a manner that leads to assemblages and in order to continue the aging process, the aging period will be considered as the average time, and the aging system can be mentioned in the labelling.

10. Presentation of the list of ingredients
    1.            OIV Member States may require a list of ingredients, mentioning all the ingredients complying with the definition provided in this article and article 6 “Ingredients”, to be displayed on the label, according to national regulations.
    2.            OIV Member States may require the compulsory displaying of this information according to the national regulations.

OIV Member States may authorise the list of ingredients to be displayed by using e-labels.

10.3.           The list of ingredients shall be headed or preceded by an appropriate title which consists of or includes the word “ingredients”.

10.4.           Ingredients should be listed in descending order according to ingoing weight used in the production of the spirituous beverages of vitivinicultural origin. This requirement does not apply to ingredients below 2% of ingoing weight.

10.5.           Taking into account that the spirituous beverages of vitivinicultural origin concerned as defined by the Code of oenological practices are presented by the following 6 spirituous beverages categories:

a)       Wine spirits

b)       Brandy/Weinbrand

c)       Grape Marc Spirits

d)       Wine lees spirits

e)       Grape spirits

f)         Raisin spirits

g)       The list of ingredients contains in particular the MAIN INGREDIENTS as described here under.

10.5.1.     Alcohol base

i. According to the article 6, raw materials fermented or distilled used for the production of spirits beverages are not to be considered ingredients, in so far as they are no longer present in the final product as such or present under an altered form (as a distillate for example).

ii. Information on raw materials for certain spirituous beverages categories in the ingredient list is provided without prejudice to the legal definition of ingredients according to national regulations and as information to the consumer.

iii. Specific provisions concerning the alcohol base description. The authorised alcohol base and vitivinicultural raw materials can be addressed as follows as long as the information does not result misleading for the consumer:

iv. The alcohol component shall be listed as either “ethyl alcohol”; “alcohol distillate”; “distilled alcohol”; or “distillate” according to its exact nature followed by the wording: “of vitivinicultural origin” (i.e. “ethyl alcohol of vitivinicultural origin”, “distillate of vitivinicultural origin”) without prejudice to the use of the terms “agricultural origin” instead of “vitivinicultural origin" on the label.

v. Considering that OIV spirituous beverage categories listed in point 10.5 are mono raw material spirituous beverage categories, the alcohol component may be specified for such products. Where the alcohol component is specified, this may be supplemented by the name of the raw material fermented and distilled (e.g. “wine”, “grape”, “raisin”, “dried grapes” etc.). The name of the raw material may be replaced or supplemented by the name of the wine or the grape variety distilled (e.g. “Distillate of Chardonnay wine”).

vi. Other information describing the alcohol base could be added if it does not result as misleading for consumers.

10.5.2.     Water

Declaration according to national rules.

10.5.3.     Sugar in general

Declaration according to national rules.

10.5.4.     Spices and herbs

Declaration according to national rules.

10.5.5.     Additives

Additives must be designated by the name of the functional class they belong to, followed by their specific name or, if appropriate, INS number. The following functional classes shall be used for labelling additives, together with the specific name or recognized numerical identification such as the Codex International Numbering System (CAC/GL 36-1989) for the presentation of wine additives: 

-          Acidity regulators

-          Preservatives

-          Antioxidants

-          Stabilisers

-          Packaging Gases

If an additive belongs to more than one of the functional classes, the functional class appropriate to the principal function in the case of the wine in question shall be indicated. Additives from the category “packaging gases” may be replaced in the list of ingredients by the specific particular “Bottled in a protective atmosphere.”

10.5.6.     Processing aids described in the OIV International Oenological Codex shall not be declared in the list of ingredients, without prejudice to article 10.5.7.

OTHER INGREDIENTS not covered by the previous paragraphs shall be indicated in accordance with national rules.

10.5.7.     SUBSTANCES KNOWN TO CAUSE HYPERSENSITIVITY, INCLUDING ALLERGIES, and still present in the final product shall be indicated and emphasised through a typeset, font, style or background colour that clearly distinguishes them in the list of ingredients. If the list of ingredients is provided using an e-label, these substances must always be indicated on the label.

11. Presentation of nutrition declaration
    1. The energy value shall be expressed in kJ and kcal:

a) Per 100 ml; and

b) Per consumption unit, provided that the unit used, and the number of units contained in the package are stated. The consumption unit should be provided in ml depending on existing national legislation or traditional consumption habits for each category.

The amount of energy to be listed should be calculated by using the following conversion factors:

-          Carbohydrates 4 kcal/g – 17 kJ/g

-          Protein 4 kcal/g – 17 kJ/g

-          Fat 9 kcal/g – 37 kJ/g

-          Alcohol (Ethanol) 7 kcal/g – 29 kJ/g

-          Organic acid 3 kcal/g – 13 kJ/g

-          Polyols 2,4 kcal/g – 10 kJ/g

OIV Member States may require the compulsory displaying of this information according to national regulations.

The full nutrition declaration may be provided.

11.2. OIV Member States may limit the nutrition declaration on the label to the energy value.

OIV Member States may authorise the full nutrition declaration to be displayed by using e-labels. When the full nutrition declaration is displayed using e-labels, the energy value should also be indicated on the label.

The indication of the energy value may be presented as a numerical value followed by the units of measure. The numerical value of energy may be preceded by the international symbol “E”.

The energy value shall be that of the product as sold.

The declared energy value should, according to the individual case, to be listed is an average value based on laboratory analysis or the manufacturer’s analysis of the product calculated using the conversion factor listed at point 3.3.1. of the Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (CAC/GL 2-1985) of the CODEX Alimentarius, or a calculation from generally established and accepted data.