In order to improve food consumers' awareness of the country of origin of the products they buy, on Tuesday 13 August, the government endorsed the Regulations drafted by the Ministry of Agriculture that lay out the procedure for displaying an indication specifying the country of manufacture of a food product at food sales point.
The manufacture indications are intended to raise consumer awareness, enabling them to make decisions based on their personal values and priorities. The origin of food products is particularly important in the current geopolitical situation, where a large part of the Latvian population does not want to support aggressor countries and avoids buying their products, or wants to support another country, for example by choosing products manufactured in our country.
The country of manufacture will have to be specified on the price label of the product, on the product or group of products, or at the point of sale if all the products in it are manufactured in the same country. The country of manufacture may be presented in writing using the name of the country or its flag. In order not to highlight the products from aggressor countries such as Russia or Belarus, the country will only be indicated in writing.
The indication must be made in accordance with the information on the product provided to the trader by the supplier on the labelling, in accompanying documents or otherwise. As the rules do not impose additional requirements for obtaining information on the country of manufacture of food, only information provided by the food business operator responsible for food information in accordance with the requirements of the EU legislation or on a voluntary basis will be used by business operators. If the information on the country is not available to the operator, the country name will be replaced by the text 'Country - no information'.
There is however no obligation to display indications in catering establishments, food outlets providing an itinerant service or food vending machines.
The requirement under the Law on the Supervision of the Handling of Food to indicate the country of manufacture of a food product at the point of sale applies from 1 September 2024. Although food traders will not have additional time to comply with the requirements, the Food and Veterinary Service will apply the 'Consult First' principle in monitoring compliance until 28 February 2025.
The Ministry of Agriculture will also publish guidelines on its website explaining how to identify the country of manufacture from information on the label or accompanying documents or other information provided by the supplier.
In addition, the government decided that an assessment should be carried out on the impact of country of manufacture indications on consumer choice and market development. The report is to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by 1 June 2025.
The “Regulation on the Indication of the Country of Food Manufacture at the Point of Sale of Food” will become effective on 1 September 2024