Labelling

New EU rules, which require more detailed seafood labelling, came into force on 1 January 2002.

In England and the devolved regions the Fish Labelling Regulations 2003 have been introduced to enforce European Council Regulation 104/2000/EC Article 4 and Commission Regulation 2065/2001/EC. The labelling requirements apply to retail sales to the final consumer only. However, products which will fall within the scope of the Regulations further along the distribution chain must be accompanied by traceability information to allow the required labelling to be applied where necessary.

Not all seafood is included within the scope of the regulations. In general the rules apply to fish and shellfish, where they are a single ingredient food, but not once the fish or shellfish has been processed to include additional ingredients.

Where applicable the Fish Labelling Regulations require fish and shellfish to be labelled with:

- the commercial name of the species;
- information on the method of production such as 'caught at sea' or 'farmed';
- the catch area or country where the fish or shellfish was caught or farmed.

Full guidance on these Regulations has been produced by the Food Standards Agency, although please be aware that this contains the 2003 list of commercial names. Seafish have also produced a brief guide to the Regulations which gives information on the minimum labelling requirements and contains the tables containing the applicable products and the commercial names and catch areas which must be used.

We have also produced the Seafood Labelling Guidance - Overview document. This is designed to help answer frequently asked questions and provide an introduction to the different types of labelling requirements for seafood products.

Seafish has been working with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to produce guidance notes for the regulations.

For more information, contact:
Fiona Wright
Food Standards Officer
e: f_wright@seafish.co.uk
t: 07876 035746