What changes will the new wine labelling regulation bring in 2019?

The sale of wine in the member states of the European Union is generally subject to the EU's Food Information Regulation (LMIV). This regulates the information that food suppliers must provide to their customers prior to purchase. Online traders must implement these information obligations in their shop; for wine, the mandatory information includes, among other things, the filling quantity, the alcohol content, the price per litre and the bottler (or, in the case of sparkling wine, the producer and, in the case of wines from non-EU countries, the importer, if applicable).

In this context, new regulations for the labelling of wine came into force on 14 January 2019. These allow for greater conceptual diversity:

The alcohol content, which must always be indicated in percent by volume, may now also be indicated with the abbreviation "Alk." - in addition to the terms "actual alcoholic strength" or "actual alcohol" or the abbreviation "alc.".

The following labelling regulations apply to wines that contain substances that could possibly trigger an allergic reaction(allergens):

• Sulphites may be indicated with the terms "sulphites" or "sulphur dioxide".
• If the wine has been fined with eggs or egg products, the terms "egg", "egg product", "egg protein", "lysozyme from egg" or "albumin from egg" may be used for the labelling.
• If the wine has been fined with milk products, the terms "milk", "milk product", "milk protein" or "casein from milk" may be used for the labelling.

In the case of wines from non-EU countries for whose import a company based in an EU country is responsible, the new regulations now also allow the indications "importer" or "imported by" in addition to the indications "importer" or "imported from".

Violations of the LMIV are often subject to warnings. For comprehensive legal advice on protection against warning letters, wein.plus works together with the lawyer and internet expert Hans-Peter Kröger, who specialises in the wine trade and grants wein.plus Business Premium members preferential conditions for certain services. Details can be found in the wein.plus world of benefits for members: Competent legal advice

RA Kröger offers Business Premium members of wein.plus a free initial consultation after receiving a warning letter: To the initial consultation