. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/N/BHR/282 
31 August 2012  
 (12-4704) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  BAHRAIN  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  Standards and Metrology Directorate (BSMD) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
Ministry of Industry and Commerce 
P.O. Box:  5479, Kingdom of Bahrain Tel.:  +973 17574880  Fax: +973 17530730 E-mail:  bsmd@moic.gov.bh . 
Website:  http://www.moic.gov.bh  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Bottled natural mineral 
water, ICS 67.160.20. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Bottled natural mineral 
water (15 pages in Arabic 9 pages in English). 
6. Description of content:  This draft technical regulation spec ifies the requirements stated in 
the Gulf standard GSO 987 "Bottled natura l mineral water" under clauses 8.1 and 9 
(packaging and labelling) as mandatory requirements.  
It specifies as follows: 1. The containers used in the packaging sh all be made from non- hazardous materials, 
 clean, sterilized and shall not lead to any objectionable change in taste, odour or 
 colour characteristics of natural mineral water, and shall comply with what has been  stated in the Gulf St andard GSO (839):"Food pa ckages -Part1: General 
 requirements";  
2. The containers shall be brand-new, not pr eviously used and shal l be free from various 
 processing defects. 
It also describes labe l requirements such as: 
1. The label requirements should be withou t prejudice to what has been mentioned in 
 the following Gulf Standards: G/TBT/N/BHR/282 
Page 2  
 
  a) GSO (9): "Labelling of prepackaged foodstuffs"; 
b) GSO (150): "Expiration dates for food products"; 
c) GSO (1016):" Microbiological criteria for foodstuff- part1"; 
d) GSO /CAC/GL 2:"Guidelines on nutrition labelling".  
2. The following shall be stated on the label of the container:  
a) The name of the product: "Bottled natural mineral water"; 
b) The type of the water; 
c) Description of the water shall be adde d to the name of the product according 
 to the total dissolved solids content; 
d) Location and the name of water s ource if different than location; 
e) Permissible natural treatments to which bottled natural mineral water has 
 been submitted; 
f) Where the product contains  more than 1mg/l of fluoride, the statement "the 
 product contains fluoride" sh all appear as part of, or in close proximity to the 
 name of the product. In addition to th e statement "the product is not suitable 
 for infants and children under age of seven years" when the product contains 
 more than 1.5 mg/l fluoride;  
g) Analytical composition of th e product characteristics.  
3. Prohibited information: 
a) It is prohibited to write down any statement concerning medical (preventive- 
 alleviate- curative) in a ccordance with product charac teristics stat ed in this 
 regulation; 
b) The name of locality, village or specified location may not form a part of the 
 trade name of the product; unless it refers to a natural mineral water collected 
 at the place designated as per the trade name; 
c) Any statement or any pictorial device which may lead to confusion to the 
 consumer about the nature, origin, composition and properties of water. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
To maintain consumer protection and food safety.  
8. Relevant documents:    
- GSO 987 "Bottled natural mineral water". 
- Codex Alimentarius Commission, CAC 108/1981, Revisions 2001, 1997, 2008, 
 Amendments  2011, "Nat ural mineral water". 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   } To be determined 
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from the notification date 
11. Text available from:  National enquiry point [X], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addres ses, if available of the other body: