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Labelling of Fishery & Aquaculture Products

Labelling of Fishery & Aquaculture Products

EU and national legislation, guidance, information about fishery and aquaculture products

  • EU legislation

    Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (this opens in a new tab) of 20 November 2009 (OJ L 343, p1, 22.12.2009) establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy.

    Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 (this opens in a new tab)(OJ L 112, p1, 30.04.2011) of 8 April 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy.

    Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 (this opens in a new tab) of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 354, p1, 28.12.2013) of 11 December 2103 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products.

    Amended by  

    Consolidated version of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013(this opens in a new tab) (as at 25 April 2020)

    Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1420/2013 (this opens in a new tab) (OJ L 353, p48, 28/12/2013) of 17 December 2013 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products

  • National legislation

    European Communities (Labelling of Fishery and Aquaculture Products) Regulations, 2016 (S.I. 121 of 2016) (this opens in a new tab)

  • General provisions

    Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 (this opens in a new tab) sets out rules on the mandatory and voluntary information to be provided for prepacked and non-prepacked fishery and aquaculture products. These rules apply to the following:

    a) CN 0301: Live fish
        CN 0302: Fish, fresh or chilled, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304
        CN 0303: Fish, frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304
        CN 0304: Fish fillets and other fish meat (whether or not minced), fresh, chilled or frozen

    b) CN 0305: Fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process; flours, meals and pellets of fish, fit for human consumption

    c) CN 0306: Crustaceans, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; crustaceans, in shell, cooked by steaming or by boiling in water, whether or not chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; flours, meals and pellets of crustaceans, fit for human consumption
        CN 0307: Molluscs, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; flours, meals and pellets of aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans, fit for human consumption

    d) CN 1212 20 00: Seaweeds and other algae

  • Mandatory information

    Article 35 of the Regulation sets out the mandatory information that must be provided for prepacked and non-prepacked products and specifies the following indications:

    • Commercial and scientific name of the species (see SFPA Commercial Designation list (this opens in a new tab) for details)
    • Production method ("…caught…" or "…caught in freshwater…" or "…farmed…")
    • Area where the product was caught or farmed
    • Category of fishing gear used
    • Whether the product has been defrosted (with limited exceptions)
    • Date of minimum durability ('best-before' date) – where appropriate

    In addition to the above, prepacked products must also display all the relevant information specified in Articles 9 and 10 of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 (this opens in a new tab) on the provision of food information to consumers.

  • Voluntary information

    The Regulation also permits the provision of the following information on a voluntary basis, provided that it is clear, unambiguous and verifiable:

    • Date of catch of fishery products or the date of harvest of aquaculture products
    • Date of landing of fishery products or information on the port at which the products were landed
    • More detailed information on the type of fishing gear
    • In the case of fishery products caught at sea, details of the flag State of the vessel that caught those products
    • Environmental information
    • Information of an ethical or social nature
    • Information on production techniques and practices
    • Information on the nutritional content of the product

    Voluntary information must not be displayed to the detriment of the space available for mandatory information on the marking or labelling.

  • EU guidance

    The EU has published a guide to these rules - A Pocket Guide to the EU's new Fish and Aquaculture Consumer Labels (this opens in a new tab)