Regulation on the labelling of fi sh products 2009-07-01 no. 967 
 
§ 1. Purpose 
The purpose of this regulation is to promote seafood qua lity by providing 
information on fish products regarding s pecies designation, pr oduction method, date 
of catch or slaughter, and catch area or country of origin. 
 
§ 2. Scope of application  
 This regulation covers all placing on the market of fish products with goods 
descriptions and Commodity Code numbers in the Customs Tariff as described in 
Annex I, part A.   
The labelling requirement shall not however apply to small quantitie s of fish 
products disposed of directly to consumer s by either fishe rmen or aquaculture 
producers. 
 
§ 3 Labelling requirement   
 Fish products referred to in Annex  I, part A shall be accompanied by 
information on species designation, production me thod, date of catching or slaughter, 
and catch area or country of origin, cf. §5, §6, §7 and §8. 
 The labelling requirement in §7 sha ll not however apply to molluscs placed on 
the market live. 
 The labelling requirement s apply irrespective of whether the fish product is 
prepacked or non-prepacked.  
§ 4 Placement of the labelling  
 Regulation on the labelling etc. of foodstuffs 1993-12- 21 1385 §7 part 5 shall 
not be applicable to over-the-counter sale of fish products. In such cases the 
information shall be provided in writing on a sign, board or similar. 
 § 5 Fish species  
 Fish products referred to in Annex  I part A shall be labelled with the 
commercial species designation. The list of  the commercial designations in Annex II 
shall apply. At the stages of  marketing prior to that to  the ultimate consumer, the 
scientific/Latin name of the s pecies shall also be included. 
 The Norwegian Food Safety Authorit y may amend the list of the commercial 
designations. 
 Application to use a provisional comme rcial designation for fish species not 
included in the list may be made to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. The 
Norwegian Food Safety Aut hority will include a commercia l designation in the list 
when it is revised. 
  
 
§ 6 Production method  
 Fish products included in  Annex I, part A shall be la belled using one of the 
following descriptions of production type: 
a) Caught at sea, or 
b) Caught in freshwater, or c) Farmed 
In the case of species caught at sea,  the reference to the production method 
may be omitted if it is obvious from the commercial desi gnation and the catch 
area that they are species caught at sea.  The description shall not be omitted if 
there is doubt as to the production method. 
If a combination of different species is placed on the market, the indication of 
production method shall be prov ided for each species.  
Where a combination is placed on the market consisting of the same species 
but derived from a variety of production methods, the method for each batch must 
be indicated.  
 
§ 7 Date of catch or slaughter  
 The labelling of fresh fish products refe rred to in Annex I, part A, caught at sea 
or in fresh water, shall i ndicate the date of catch. 
 The labelling of fresh fish products refe rred to in Annex I, part A, derived from 
farming, shall indicate  the date of slaughter. 
 § 8 Catch area or country of origin 
 Fish products referred to in Annex I, part A shall be labelled using one of the 
following descriptions: 
a) Fish products caught at sea shall be labelled with the catch area in 
accordance with Annex I, part B.  
b) Fish products caught in fresh wate r shall be labelled with the country in 
which the product was caught.  
c) Farmed fish products shall be labelle d with the country in which the product 
underwent its final development stage.  
If a combination of different species is  placed on the market, indications of 
catch area or country of origin shall be provided for each species. 
  Where a combination is placed on the market consisting of the same species 
but derived from a variety of catch areas or  countries, at least the area of the batch 
which is most representative in terms of quantity must be st ated, together with an 
indication that the fish products also come  from different countries or catch areas. 
 Annex I 
 
A. Description of which products are covered  by the labelling requirements for fish 
products. 
 
Commodity 
Code No. in the Common Customs Tariff   Description of goods 
03.01 Live fish 
03.02 Fish, fresh or chilled, excluding fish f illets and other fish meat of heading 
03.04 
03.03 Fish, frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading No 03.04 
03.04 Fish fillets and other fish meat (wheth er or not minced), fresh, chilled or 
frozen 
03.05 Fish, dried, salted or in brine; smok ed fish, whether or not cooked before 
or during the smoking process; flours, meals and pellets of fish, fit for 
human consumption 
03.06 Crustaceans, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, 
salted or in brine; crustaceans, in shell, cooked by steaming or by boiling 
in water, whether or not chilled, froze n, dried, salted or in brine; flours, 
meals and pellets of fish, fit for human consumption 
03.07 Molluscs, whether in shell or not, li ve, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted 
or in brine; aquatic inve rtebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, live, 
fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in  brine; flours, meals and pellets of 
aquatic invertebrates other than cr ustaceans, fit for human consumption   
B. Catch areas for fish  species caught at sea 
 
Names that shall be used to 
describe catch areas  FAO area  
North-West Atlantic 21 
North-East Atlantic 27 
Baltic Sea 27.IIId 
Central-Western Atlantic 31 
Central-Eastern Atlantic 34 
South-West Atlantic 41 
South-East Atlantic 47 
Mediterranean Sea 37.1, 37.2 and 37.3 
Black Sea 37.4 
Indian Ocean 51 and 57 
Pacific Ocean 61, 67, 71, 77, 81 and 87 
Antarctic 48, 58 and 88 
.  
 
Annex II 
 
List of commercial designations and species for the purpose of labelling: