Delay of October 1st deadline for food labelling rules

7 Sept 2022

The UK Government has recently announced a delay to remaining import controls on EU goods entering Great Britain, in recognition of the significant supply chain impact due to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the recent rise in global energy costs. The Government has concluded that in this context it would be wrong to impose new administrative requirements on businesses who may pass-on the associated costs to consumers already facing pressures on their finances.

In line with protecting consumers from unnecessary costs, the food labelling rules that apply from the 1^st October, 2022 will now come into force on the 1^st January, 2024. In general, delaying these labelling requirements will mean that some labelling terms and EU addresses (in relation to the importer or FBO address requirement) will continue to be permitted on the GB market for an additional 15 months. To further help UK businesses it has also been decided to further extend the deadline to use “UK/EC” identification marks on the GB Market to 1^st January 2024.

Following decisions in Wales and Scotland these changes will apply across the whole of GB.

A list of affected products is below. We will publish more detailed guidance around this in the coming weeks.

What is affected

General food labelling:

• Food Business Operator (FBO) address requirements
• Quick frozen foodstuffs
• Extraction solvents
• Caseins and caseinates

Labelling of specific products:

• Beef and veal
• Minced meat
• Honey blends
• Olive oil
• Fruit & vegetables
• Eggs
• Wine

And:

Identification marks for continued use of “UK/EC” mark on GB Market