Amendments to the Law on the Supervision of the Handling of Food stipulate that the government will determine criteria for identification of the country where the product is manufactured, and requirements for drawing up and placing of claims. It is also envisaged to provide for exceptions where the placement of indications is optional.
The new requirements will be in effect from September 1.
Failure to indicate the country of production will be subject to a warning or fine: up to 250 euros for a natural person, and up to 1,000 euros for a legal person.
Deputies of the committee responsible for the progress of the draft law in the Saeima previously emphasized that the amendments will make it easier to distinguish local products and easily determine where the particular product has been manufactured, as well as reduce opportunities to mislead the purchaser. Deputies said there are still Russian and Belarusian products in some retail outlets.
Until now, it was stipulated that the country of origin should be indicated only for certain groups of foodstuffs such as meat, fresh fruit and vegetables.
The country of origin can be indicated with a flag and/or in writing.
