The Turin Vermouth Consortium and the new labeling guidelines published by the European Commission

This happens just on the eve of the deadline of 8 December 2023, when the new obligations regarding nutritional indications and the list of ingredients will definitively come into force. In other words, the Commission services require that companies print new compliant labels within 12 days. And those just printed on the basis of the previous official interpretation of the Commission itself? They should be sent to the pulp mill. The guidelines should help operators in the correct application of the rules and facilitate the control activity of the various national authorities with a univocal interpretation, although they do not represent an official interpretation which in the EU context is up to the Court of Justice alone: this time the guidelines create strong doubts and risk causing significant damage to companies that have already printed and used labels without the additional indication. Given the numerous labels already printed and - in many cases - already applied to bottles released for consumption and considering that the interpretation provided undermines the principle of legal certainty and legitimate expectations of economic operators, distorting the spirit of the regulation and, with it , the political will expressed by the co-legislators with the adoption of the reg. EU no. 2021/2117, the Turin Vermouth Consortium deems unsustainable a rule that does not leave producers time to adapt and therefore requests an urgent modification of the Guidelines to avoid the destruction of millions of labels already printed or present on the shelves and in general requests always a transitory period of time for the application of new texts that arrive on producers like a bolt from the blue. Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 published on 6 December 2021, imposes, starting from 8 December 2023, the mandatory labeling of the list of ingredients and the nutritional declaration of wines and aromatised wine products, which can also be made available electronically (e-label). Companies producing Vermouth di Torino have welcomed Regulation (EU) 2021/2117, which provides an adequate way to inform consumers, and are strongly committed to applying it. Until the publication of the aforementioned guidelines on November 24th, it was considered possible to identify the QR-code with the ISO 2760 registered symbol, universally known to identify a place where information is found. Today, however, according to the new interpretation, it would be necessary to write the word "ingredients" above the QR-code. This minimal change, completely irrelevant in substance, will impose costs and inconveniences. “ Taking into account the time required to modify the graphics of the labels and print them, our members began working many months ago to meet the December 8th deadline. They printed many labels, ready to be used at the required deadline. These newly printed labels - declared Pierstefano Berta, Director of the Turin Vermouth Consortium - will have to be destroyed, but there will not be time to print others. It seems unreasonable to us. We therefore ask the Commission to urgently modify the Guidelines, or to give the possibility of printing others within the necessary technical times." Vermouth of Turin Vermouth of Turin is the most famous Italian flavored wine, already appreciated at the royal court of Savoy. Its name derives from the German term wermut which defines Artemisia absinthium (wormwood), the main aromatic base in its preparation. From 1400, Turin's liqueur makers began to distinguish themselves for their expertise in the art of distillation until they achieved, already in the eighteenth century, great fame beyond the Italian borders. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Vermouth also became famous abroad in its two white and red variants. The development of Vermouth di Torino as we know it today, a fascinating convivial aperitif, began precisely in the Piedmontese capital. Over the years we have witnessed the evolution of processing techniques: the new ones have joined the older ones and their coexistence continues today to preserve and enhance the traditional production of this product. Vermouth di Turin is classified based on its color (White, Amber, Rosé or Red) and the quantity of sugar used in its preparation. The specification also provides for the Vermouth di Torino Superiore type which refers to products with an alcoholic strength of no less than 17% vol., made with at least 50% Piedmontese wines and flavored with herbs - other than absinthe - grown or harvested in Piedmont