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Verband Deutscher Sektkellereien e.V.

VDS

Der Verband Deutscher Sektkellereien e.V.

Lobbying Activity

Response to Indication of wine ingredients and adaptation of the rules for geographical indications in the wine sector

23 Feb 2023

Please find the comments of Verband Deutscher Sektkellereien (Association of German Sparkling Wineries) in the attached document.
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Response to Revision of Food Information to Consumers for what concerns labelling rules on alcoholic beverages

21 Jul 2021

Verband Deutscher Sektkellereien e.V. (VDS) represents the German sparkling wine industry. Its members produce and market the great majority of sparkling wine and account for over 95% of the entire sparkling wine production in Germany. In addition, VDS members are among the major national producers of aromatized wine products. We reiterate our commitment to providing consumers with relevant, clear and easy to understand information, improving their knowledge about wine and aromatized wine products, and empowering them to make informed decisions on the products they choose to consume within a balanced lifestyle. 1. Purpose and scope – Maintain the application of lex specialis as agreed under the CAP Considering that Article 16(4) of FIC Regulation exempts alcoholic beverages above 1.2% abv from the mandatory indication of the list of ingredients and nutrition declaration, the EU wine sector requested proactively to EU policy-makers to develop mandatory provisions on nutritional declaration and list of ingredients for wines and aromatized wine products. In this respect, the European Parliament and the Council have agreed to include specific rules, in the framework of the CAP post-2020 reform, on wine Common Market Organisation and in the EU regulation for aromatized wine products. We, therefore, call the European Commission to acknowledge co-legislators’ decision and to exclude wines (which include sparkling wines) and aromatized wine products from the scope of the revision of the FIC on this particular topic. 2. Content of the rules – Maintain the specific provisions as agreed under the CAP The rules agreed by co-legislators in the framework of the CAP reform, appropriately consider the specificity of the wine and aromatized wine products sectors and the special characteristics of these products and their system of product to avoid market fragmentation, competitiveness distortion while providing consumers with relevant information in a transparent way. Considering the structure of the wine sector, dominated by micro and small companies, and the heterogeneity of the products produced by every wine company, to ensure a level playing field amongst food business operators across the sectors, it is of upmost importance to maintain the existing rules agreed for wines. While requesting the mandatory communication of the list of ingredients and the full nutrition declaration in line with the general rules of FIC, co-legislators approach includes some adapted ad hoc rules such as the language-free communication of the energy content to avoid market fragmentation and the multiplication of labels. They also foresee the development of secondary legislation to provide further rules concerning wine list of ingredients. 3. New ways to provide information to consumers - use of digital tools Co-legislators agreed to authorize the use of digital tools (e-labels) for the provision of the list of ingredients and nutrition declaration under certain conditions (among others the mandatory presence on the label of the energy content and the reference to allergenic substances). Digital information has the potential to improve consumers information while reducing market fragmentation. The use of e-labels to inform consumers, as a complement and an alternative to label, helps to ensure a high degree of adaptability for economic operators, providing them with a flexibility that could particularly help reduce the burden for SMEs. This flexibility is especially important for the wine sector. In parallel, e-labels seem to be best fit to help consumers to consult detailed, tailored and up-to-date information, in their own language, while avoiding disruption of trade flows.
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