EN    EN EN 
  
EN    EN  EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Brussels, 
C(2010) final 
Draft 
COMMISSION REGULATION 
of 
amending Commission Directive 2007/68/EC as regards labelling requirements for wines 
(Text with EEA relevance)  
EN 2   EN Draft 
COMMISSION REGULATION 
of 
amending Commission Directive 2007/68/EC as re gards labelling requirements for wines  
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,  Having regard to Directive 2000/13/EC of the Eu ropean Parliament and of the Council of 20 
March 2000 on the approximation of the laws of th e Member States relatin g to the labelling, 
presentation and advertising of foodstuffs
1, and in particular Article 21 thereof, 
Whereas: (1) Commission Directive 2007/68/EC
2 amends the list of Annex IIIa to Directive 
2000/13/EC indicating the ingredients which mu st be included in the labelling of foods 
as they are likely to cause adverse reactions  in susceptible indivi duals; it also draws a 
list of certain derivatives from the ingred ients included in Annex IIIa, for which it has 
been scientifically established that they are not likely, under speci fic circumstances to 
trigger adverse reactions and ar e therefore excluded from th e labelling requirement. It 
furthermore repeals Commission Directiv e 2005/26/EC of 21 March 2005 establishing 
a list of food ingredients or substances provisionally excluded from Annex IIIa of 
Directive 2000/13/EC3. 
(2) Since changes in labelling rules affect industry, mainly small and medium-sized 
enterprises, which need an adaptation pe riod to smooth the transition towards new 
labelling requirements, Directive 2007/68/EC  provided for temporary measures to 
facilitate the application of the new rules by allowing the marketing of foods placed on 
the market or labelled before 31 May 2009 that complied with Commission Directive 
2005/26/EC until stocks were exhausted. 
(3) That transitional period provided for by thos e temporary measures was extended until 
31 December 2010  by Commission Regulation (EC) No 415/20094 for wines as 
defined in Annex IV to Council Regulation (EC) No 479/20085.  
                                                 
1 OJ L 109, 6.5.2000, p. 29.  
2 OJ L 310, 28.11.2007, p. 11. 
3 OJ L 75, 22.3.2005, p. 33. 
4 OJ L 125, 21.5.2009, p. 52. 
5 OJ L 148, 6.6.2008, p. 1.  
EN 3   EN (4) Following the repeal of Regulation (EC)  No 479/2008, wines are now defined in 
Annex XIb to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/20076. Reference should thus be 
made to that Annex. 
(5) In accordance with Article 6(11), first s ubparagraph of Directive 2000/13/EC, the list 
in Annex IIIa should be systematically re -examined and, where necessary, updated on 
the basis of the most recent scientific knowledge. 
(6) The wine sector conducted new scientific studies on the allergen icity of casein and 
ovalbumin, derived from milk and egg resp ectively, used as fining agents in the 
winemaking. According to the applicant, thos e studies are based on new scientific data 
demonstrating that wines fined with casein and ovalbumin according to good manufacturing practice are not likely to tr igger adverse reactions in milk or egg 
allergic individuals.  
(7) On 8 June and 19 July 2010 th e International Organisation of Vine and Wine made a 
request for a labelling exemption regard ing casein and ovalbumin used in the 
manufacture of wine as cl arification processing aids. 
(8) On 14 July and 30 July 2010 the Commission submitted to EFSA requests for 
scientific opini ons on the above-mentioned substances. 
(9) In order to avoid unnecessary  burdens on the economic oper ators due to changes in 
labelling rules, the mandatory application to the wine sector of Directive 2007/68/EC 
should be postponed pending the sc ientific assessment by EFSA. 
(10) The date provided for in Article 3(3) of  Directive 2007/68/EC which sets out a 
transitional period should be consequently  set for the 30th of June 2012 for wines 
placed on the market or labelled before that date and until their stocks are exhausted provided they comply with the provisions previously in force, namely those of 
Directive 2005/26/EC. 
(11) Directive 2007/68/EC should therefore be amended accordingly. 
(12) The measures provided for in this Regulati on are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Anim al Health, and neither the European 
Parliament nor the Council has opposed them. 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
In Article 3 of Directive 2007/68/EC the th ird paragraph is replaced by the following: 
'Member States shall allow wines, as defi ned in Annex XIb to Regulation (EC) No 
1234/2007,  placed on the market or labelled before 30 June 2012, and which comply with the 
provisions of Directive 2005/26/EC, to be marketed until stocks are exhausted.' 
                                                
 
6 OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p 1.  
EN 4   EN Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of 
the European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in  its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 
 For the Commission 
 José Manuel BARROSO  The President