The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999

Labelling of natural mineral water E+W

10.—(1) No person shall cause a natural mineral water to be marked or labelled with–

(a) any sales description other than a sales description referred to in paragraph (2) below;

(b) a trade description which–

(i) includes the name of a locality, hamlet or place where the inclusion of that name is not in accordance with Article 8.1; or

(ii) is different from the name of the spring or the place of its exploitation other than in accordance with the requirements of Article 8.3;

(c) any designation, proprietary name, trade mark, brand name, illustration or other sign, whether emblematic or not, the use of which is forbidden by Article 9.1(a);

(d) any indication (other than those specified in sub-paragraphs (f) and (g) below) attributing to the natural mineral water properties relating to the prevention, treatment or cure of a human illness;

(e) any indication listed in column 1 of Annex III if a criterion appears in column 2 of that Annex opposite the indication and the natural mineral water does not meet that criterion;

(f) the indication “may be diuretic" or “may be laxative" unless the natural mineral water has been assessed as possessing the property attributed by the indication in accordance with physico-chemical analysis and pharmacological, physiological or clinical examination, as appropriate; or

(g) the indication “stimulates digestion" or “may facilitate the hepato-biliary functions" unless the natural mineral water has been assessed as possessing the property attributed by the indication in accordance with physico-chemical analysis and pharmacological, physiological and clinical examination.

(2) The sales description of natural mineral water shall be–

(a) in the case of a natural mineral water other than an effervescent natural mineral water, “natural mineral water"; and

(b) in the case of an effervescent natural mineral water, the description in sub-paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of Section III of Annex I within which the water falls.

(3) Natural mineral water shall be marked or labelled with–

(a) where it has undergone the treatment of total or partial elimination of free carbon dioxide by exclusively physical methods, the indication “fully de-carbonated" or “partially de-carbonated" as appropriate; and

(b) the mandatory information referred to in paragraph (4) below.

(4) The mandatory information for natural mineral waters is–

(a) a statement of the analytical composition which statement shall indicate the characteristic constituents of the water; and

(b) the name of the place where the spring is exploited and the name of the spring.

(5) No person shall sell any natural mineral water which–

(a) is marked or labelled in contravention of paragraph (1) above;

(b) has undergone any of the treatments referred to in paragraph (3)(a) above unless it is marked or labelled with the appropriate indication in accordance with that paragraph;

(c) is not marked or labelled with the mandatory information referred to in paragraph (4) above; or

(d) is marked or labelled with a trade description which is different from the trade description with which any other natural mineral water from the same spring is marked or labelled.