What the organic wine labeling rules are and the new European regulations will come into force on January 1st , 2022
-Marco Riario Sforza Attorney, expert in domestic and international commercial contracts
The European Parliament postponed by one year the date of application of the new European Regulation (EU Reg. No. 848/2018), which will come into force on 1st January 2022 and will redefine the entire production and regulatory framework for organic products, including wine.
However, when it comes to organic wines, a prerequisite is necessary: in Italy, the first regulation of the European Union came into force in 2012, and since then it has stipulated that wines must meet two conditions: produced from organic grapes, but also according to Precise guide method brewing.
Before this regulation came into force, Italy did not have any legislation on organic winemaking.
With regard to crops, organic wine must come from grapes grown according to the principles of organic farming, which uses only organic fertilizers, avoids the use of pesticides and herbicides, through the natural fertility of the soil and natural pesticides, and does not use chemical products to Resist pests.
As mentioned before, organic wine not only comes from the processing of fruits grown according to the principles of organic farming, but must also be produced in the most controlled way possible, with the aim of drastically reducing the presence of potentially toxic substances and additives.
In the case where it is impossible to completely eliminate sulfur dioxide by physical methods, just to give some examples, some ingredients are allowed to be added in the winemaking process, but the source of these allowed ingredients must be natural or recommended organic ingredients.
The additives in the process of brewing organic wine are mainly sulfites, which are significantly lower than those in traditional production.
Sulfites are used for antioxidant and anti-corruption effects, but they are sensitizers, and the law specifies precise intake limits: Too much intake means a risk of migraines. In this regard, however, it is worth mentioning that Italy has very strict sulphite limits, lower than in other European countries, with parts of Europe having twice as much sulphite limits as Italy.
On the issue of sulphites used, the new European regulation, which is expected to come into force on January 1st, 2022, will not only clarify this standard, but individual member states will also take measures to adapt to Italian standards.
Italy is also the first country in Europe to produce organic wine. Before France and Spain, it also has a long tradition of winemaking. The areas with the largest organic vineyard area are Sicily, Puglia and Tuscany in Italy.
Now on to the details of the new European Regulation (EU Reg. No. 848/2018) regarding fertilizers authorized for use in vineyards, which must all bear the CE mark, even fertilizers authorized at national level must comply Same entry criteria.
Another novelty, despite strong skepticism from most sectoral organizations, is the introduction of allowable admission criteria for the list of substances for cleaning and disinfection in food processing plants; taking into account the health and safety of the various plants and production techniques involved in the organic sector It is difficult to coordinate the demand, so the realization of this goal is still full of challenges.
On the other hand, and more specifically for control systems, there is already a regulation that is open for comment, aimed at the harmonization of management and storage records in compliance with detailed organic production rules, which may be related to traceability, Internal quality control and evaluation related.
Finally, further elements of coordinated intervention are envisaged, namely those involving the investigative activities that the agencies and authorities in charge of control will have to carry out in the event of detection of non-compliance, especially after the analytical assessment.
There are currently no measures for automatic decertification (such as Italian Ministerial Decree DM 309/2011) or analytical reference limits for initiating investigations.
In addition to this new European regulation (EU Reg. N ° 848/2018), which will come into force on January 1st , 2022, it should be emphasized that Italian wines are also increasingly concerned with sustainability, with important news Yes, in fact, Italy will be the first country in Europe to adopt a sustainable public standard, which will promote the certification of so-called “clean” wines, which can also confirm the sustainability of their production process by identifying the mark on the label.
This follows the recent decree signed by the Ministry of Agriculture on the creation of a Wine Sustainability Council. The specific related content will be discussed in detail later.
