The Fish Labelling Regulations

Fish and shellfish products are subject to general labelling rules which apply to all foodstuffs, as well as some more specific regulations.

General rules for product labelling

You can find the general rules for labelling within the Food Information to Consumers Regulation 1169/2011. All pre-packaged foods need to be labelled with:

A name
A list of ingredients
A use-by or best before date
Storage conditions
The name and address of the manufacturer or packer
They also contain several other general rules which cover nutrition, country of origin, and health claims

More specific rules for fishery and aquaculture product labelling

There are also rules in place to regulate fishery and aquaculture products, including raw fish, fish fillets, and shellfish. The main requirements of these regulations are the inclusion of:

Traceability information. More on traceability requirements here.
Information about when the product must be sold to the final consumer
Health claims must be approved before being applied to packaging, such as Omega-3 health claims. More about this can be read in our Seafish guidance note here.

It is important to remember that these general labelling requirements apply to retail sales to the final consumer only; traceability requirements, on the other hand, apply throughout the distribution chain.

Current regulations

(FIC ) Regulation 1169/2011
(CMO) Regulation 1379/2013
The Fish Labelling Regulations 2013
Regulation 1924/2006 on health claims and nutrition

Seafish produced a guide to seafood labelling under the previous regulations. This archive document is available here and should be read in conjunction with the current guides.