New Food Distribution Law Requires Country of Origin Labeling for Food Products

The food distribution inspection law added by 13.¹ article, which says: “The selling company indicates the country where it was produced for a food product during the sale of food. That country shall be identified in writing or by an image of its flag.”

The law also states: “If a food product is produced in the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, this shall be indicated only in writing.”

Therefore, it will not be possible to display the flags of Russia or Belarus at the points of sale.

The transitional regulations provide that the requirement will apply from September 1, 2024.

The Cabinet of Ministers, on the other hand, must decide by May 31:

• criteria for identifying the country where the food product was produced;
• requirements for the design of the designated signs (written information or image of the flag) and their placement;
• exceptions when placement of signs is not required.

The law, adding to Article 33 with the second part, also provides for administrative responsibility for non-fulfillment of the requirement. If the country of production of the food product is not specified at the point of sale of food, a warning or a fine of up to 200 euros will be imposed on the natural person, and up to 1000 euros on the legal person.

As explained in the note of the draft law, consumers are often misled about the real country of origin of various food products, so their decisions may not reflect their true will. According to the authors of the bill, the new requirement will increase consumer awareness to make a decision based on personal values ​​and priorities.

The origin of food products is especially important in the current geopolitical situation, when a large part of Latvian society does not want to support aggressive countries and buy their products, authors bill puts pressure on it.

Until now, it was specified that the country of origin should be indicated on price tags only for certain food groups, such as meat, fresh fruit and vegetables.