Spain: draft Royal Decree concerning the labeling of the origin of milk
Although on March 29, 2017, the draft Royal Decree on the labeling of the origin of milk as raw material for milk and milk products was published, a modification was published in June in order to include a section in the scope of application and to modify the texts related to the labeling.
Regarding the scope of application, the following section is included:
The origin of the milk used as raw material that represents a percentage greater than 50 percent, expressed in weight, with respect to the total of ingredients used will be indicated
And in reference to the labeling text, it is specified that:
- For the indication of the name of the country of milking and processing:
- In the case that it is a country other than Spain, instead of the reference to the country, it can be indicated “(UE)” or “(fuera de la EU)”. Likewise, when milking or processing milk is involved in several countries, the name of the countries may be replaced by one of the following statements: “UE”, “fuera de la EU” or “UE y fuera de la UE” (EU, outside the EU, EU and outside the EU) as appropriate.
- If the two operations mentioned in the previous section occur in the same country, they can be substituted for a single mention, “Origen de la leche: (name of the country)”. However, when dealing with a same country, other than Spain, it may be mentioned: “Origen de la leche: (UE)” or “Origen de la leche: (fuera de la UE)”, as appropriate.
- The mentions provided above, will appear on the list of ingredients, immediately after the name of the ingredient or in a footnote to the list and will be expressed with the same font size and color used for the list of ingredients.
- When, in accordance with Article 19 (1) (d) of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011, of the European Parliament and of the Council, of October 25, 2011, the list of ingredients does not appear in the labeling, the mentions abovementioned will appear close to the name of the food and will be printed with characters of the same size and font color used for the denomination of the food.