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Belgium ∙ Food Labelling: Belgium Clarifies Scope of Certain Categories of Food Exempt from Labelling Obligations

Aude Mahy


On 28 July 2016, the Belgian authorities published an official document interpreting the concepts of food prepacked for direct sale and food that the manufacturer directly supplies in small quantities to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer.
While reference to these concepts is made in Regulation No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, no definition thereof was provided. Since these food categories benefit from certain exemptions in terms of labelling obligations, this resulted in legal uncertainty for the industry. First, food that is prepacked for direct sale is not subject to any of the heavy labelling requirements imposed on prepacked foodstuffs. Second, food directly supplied by the manufacturer in small quantities to the final consumer, or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer, does not have to label a nutrition declaration.

Aude Mahy is an attorney-at-law with the Brussels bar, and Counsel with the Litigation & Risk Management department with Loyens & Leoff, where she heads the Food & Beverages Team.

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