The Directorate-General of Food and Veterinary (DGAV) clarified the obligatory requirement (labeling rules) of the indication of the country or countries of origin where the honey has been harvested. 

The legal information about honey is presented by the Decree-Law nº 214/2003 of September 18, transposed from the Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 and amended by the Directive 2014/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014, transposed to the Decree-Law nº 126/2015 of July 7.

According to these legal documents: “On the label of the products, of which the present document refers to, shall be indicated the country or countries of origin where the honey has been harvested” - D.L. 214/2003, article 7, point 7.
- In case of the honey originates from a single Member State or third country, the indication shall be, for example: “Origin Portugal” or “Honey from Portugal”;
- However, if the honey originates in more than one Member State or third country, the indication of the countries of origin may be replaced with one of the following, as appropriate: “blend of EU honeys”, “blend of non-EU honeys”, “blend of EU and non-EU honeys” - D.L. 126/2015, article 2, point 4 which amends the D.L. 214/2003, article 4, point 8.

Through this information, it is settle a proper and mandatory mode to present the origin of the honey, a food of animal origin, eradicating any doubt about how the indication of the origin of the honey should be.

Our Labeling Services can support every company who needs support to align with the new rules.

Source: Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária (DGAV)