The government has postponed new Brexit labelling rules on food products coming into the UK from the EU. The decision had been made to protect “consumers from unnecessary costs,” Defra said.
New rules were due to come into force on 1 October this year, but now won’t be enforced until 1 January 2024.
The existing rules stipulate that food businesses must include a business name and address on the packaging or food label of prepacked food products. The change in law will require all food sold in GB to include a UK address for the food business operator, or if the business is based overseas, the UK address of the business’s importer.
The delay means a UK address will now not be required for a further 15 months, allowing businesses to use up existing stocks of labels.
Specific guidance from Defra related to eggs and poultry is as follows:
For minced meat, including poultry, placed on the GB market:
• You can continue to refer to ‘EU’ and ‘non-EU’ when the label does not list each country of origin until 31 December 2023.
• From 1 January 2024, you must use ‘UK’ or ‘non-UK’ when the label does not list each country of origin.
For eggs sold in GB:
• In GB businesses can continue to mark eggs that do not meet domestic egg trade regulations as ‘non-EC standard’ or ‘non-UK standard’ until 31 December 2023.
• From 1 January 2024, you should mark these eggs as ‘non-UK standard’.