Aromatised wine products: definition, description, presentation, labelling, and protection of geographical indications
The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Paolo BARTOLOZZI (EPP, IT) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine products.
The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, in exercising its prerogatives as an associated committee in accordance with Article 50 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, was also consulted for an opinion on this report.
The committee recommends that the position of the European Parliament in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:
Aromatised wine products: Members feel that it is important to mention in the definition all aspects of the manufacture of these products (aromatisation, addition of alcohol where applicable, sweetening and colouring), so as to bring the text into line with the content of Annexes I and II. Furthermore, they want to clarify: (i) the addition of alcohol is allowed for aromatised wines but not for other product categories, except those for which a specific exception is made in the definitions set out in Annex II; (ii) organic aromatised wine products may be produced in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) 834/2007.
Sales denominations: in order to ensure legal coherence between the text and the annexes, Members mentioned again: (i) the principle of exclusivity such that only the sales denominations listed in Annex II may be used in the Union; (ii) the possibility of special provisions applicable to certain traditional products, such as the use of more than one sales denomination for the same product. An alcoholic beverage not fulfilling the requirements laid down in the Regulation shall not be described, presented or labelled by graphic components that are liable to mislead the consumer.
Additional terms: Members consider that the terms ‘semi-sweet’ and ‘sweet’ may be accompanied by an indication of the sugar content, expressed in grams of invert sugar per litre as proposed by the Commission.
Indication of the place of provenance: if the provenance of a product is given, it must also refer to the provenance of the grapes, in order not to mislead consumers.
Labelling: an amendment stipulates that sales denominations and additional particulars shall appear in a language easily understood by the consumers of the Member States where a wine product is marketed.
Protection: protected geographical indications and aromatised wine products should be protected against any other false or misleading indication as to the provenance, origin, composition, wine and/or alcohol content, production method or essential qualities of the product, on the inner or outer packaging, advertising material or documents relating to the wine product concerned.
Delegated powers: Members take the view that the updating of sales denominations and descriptions of aromatised wine products is, in fact, an essential element of this Regulation and therefore it should not be made through delegated acts, as the Commission suggests, but through the ordinary legislative procedure.
However, in order to ensure product quality and traceability, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts concerning the information to be provided in the product specification with regard to the link between the geographical area and the final product. In addition, checks and verification tasks should be regarded as a non-essential element of the Regulation requiring adoption by means of delegated acts.
Amendment of the Annexes: Members also consider it necessary to amend the annexes in the light of technical and legislative developments in this sector. Specifically, on account of developments in sweetening techniques and practices since 1991, the list of sweetening methods allowed for vermouth should be extended to bring it into line with the practices already provided for in Annex I. Furthermore, the definition of egg-based aromatised wine should be changed in view of the fact that there is no specific method for measuring its cholesterol content.
Lastly, it is important to protect the word ‘Sangria’, which originated in Spain and Portugal.