Label Law in Belgium

The Belgian Law containing labeling requirements was introduced by the Royal Decree “Koninklijk besluit betreffende de etikettering van voorverpakte voedingsmiddelen” of September, 13, 1999. These laws about labeling refer to the time when the products are on sale inside stores or delivered through catering services. All Belgian Label Laws are in accordance with EU legislation. Exceptions from Label Law in Belgium are extremely rare and can only be granted by the Federal Minister of Agriculture.

 

Any label must contain information regarding the name, quantity, ingredients, manufacturer information and contact details, expiration date or usage instructions for the respective product or service. In additon to this, labels used in Belgium must contain warning signs when the respective products contain:

- liquorice

- sweeteners or added sugar

- aspartame 

- more than 10% added polyols 

 

Also a warning sign should be placed on the label if the aliments expiring date was extended due to the use of packaging gases. Our law firm in Belgium is ready to provide more detailed information on this topic.

 

 

Due to the multilingual status of Belgium, there were many debates over the language that should be used for writting information on labes. The Belgian Label Law states that the label on each product should be written in the language corresponding to the area where it was packaged. In northern Belgium inhabitants speak Dutch, in south they speak French and in German the eastern part of Belgium, therefore most producers prefer to make their labels bi-lingual or even tri-lingual, especially if they also intend to export their goods.

 

 

Since 2010 traders must only label the country of origin  for products like fruit and vegetables, eggs, poultry, beef, veal, wine, honey, olive oil, fish and organic products, if these are to be delivered in EU member states. If vendors in Belgium want to apply stick-on labels on their products, these must meet Belgian laws regarding labeling and can be applied either before being imported into the country or in stores before being sold. All labeling requirements also apply for samples.

 

 Belgium is also one of the countries with the highest usage rate of ecolabels.These labels are awarded by impartial authorities for producers and manufacturers and prove compliance with high environment standards.

 

For more information or consultancy regarding the Label Law, please contact our experienced attorneys in Belgium.