National Council committee rejects nutrition label on wines
Published: Friday, Sep 6th 2024, 17:20
Zurück zu Live Feed
The National Council committee responsible is opposing new EU regulations on wine labeling. It is calling on the Federal Council to refrain from adopting the corresponding provisions on the list of ingredients and nutrition declaration on wine labels.
The National Council's Committee for Science, Education and Culture (WBK-N) has submitted a motion to this effect, as reported by the parliamentary services on Friday. The National Council will decide on this next.
The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) wants to amend the Beverages Ordinance so that the ingredients and nutritional value of all wines, sparkling wines and semi-sparkling wines must be stated on the label or via a QR code. The aim is to adopt EU regulations.
However, the WBK-N is calling for a wine designation as before. According to the press release, it points out that wine is not a "compound" product like certain other foods. The relevant ingredients, such as the alcohol and sulphite content, should already be indicated on the label.
"The categorical adoption of EU law for wine declarations is not desirable for Switzerland as a non-EU member state," it said. The majority of Swiss wine is marketed locally or domestically. Only a few percent of Swiss wine production is exported.
Mandatory declaration of nutritional value and ingredients would not benefit consumers or society. For domestic and local producers as well as for retailers, however, it would result in new, cost-increasing analysis and administrative work that could not be passed on via product prices. According to the WBK-N, the obligation would also result in considerable costs and work for the authorities in terms of monitoring, testing and follow-up measurements.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic