What Regulatory Packaging Rules Do You Follow Now, When Exporting to Europe?

When faced with the task of international distribution for your products, there is the task of making sure your packaging is compliant whilst also ensuring that international translations are correctly implemented. However, with several rules and regulations you must now follow, making sure your packaging is accurately translated is important.

Food Labelling Products

To sell food or drink overseas, the product must include a basic level of labelling:

• It must be clear and easy to read

• The label must be permanent on the product

• It must be easy to understand

• The label must be easily visible

• The label must not be misleading in any way.

Alongside, this, you must show certain pieces of basic information on your packaging such as a list of ingredients, allergens, special storage conditions and the name of the food plus other basics to ensure you have everything you need.

For key food categories such as red meats, poultry and fish, there is a lot more governmental guidelines to consider for accurate translation. These require a lot more detail for exportation to Europe. Some examples include:

• Country of origin

• Slaughter date and location

• For many types of meat, you must include the location of where the animal(s) was born, fattened, and reared for a specified period before slaughter. Sometimes the locations of these details differentiate to the place of slaughter.

Food labelling guidelines do vary according to the type and nature of food. Therefore, it’s crucial to get food labelling correct to abide by food hygiene and safety standards.

Checking Packaging Rules Post Brexit

In addition to making sure that you have all this basic information, it is important to make sure that you are checking packaging rules post Brexit. With many elements to consider when it comes to how to export your product to Europe, it is important to make sure that you are aware of changes to rules post Brexit. With many companies now required to print labels carrying both an EU and UK address, this will aid the business in saving money and ensure you have everything you need all in one place. In addition to this, several small to medium businesses may also need the help of an importer based either in the EU or Northern Island. This will ensure that the distribution of products runs as smoothly as possible throughout the course of the day.

Look Into Whether You Need a Conformity Assessment

For those that have not previously been exporting to the EU and are looking for how to export your product in 2021, you may need to fill out a conformity assessment for exports to the EU if you fall into any of the following categories:

• You self-declare the conformity of your goods against regulations.

• Any third-party conformity was carried out by an EU-recognised notified body.

• If you have a certificate of conformity previously held by a UK body that has been transferred into an EU-recognised notified body.

• You are voluntarily using a testing body to test against European international standards.

This test will need to be carried out by an EU recognised body, both the EU based body and the body in countries in which the EU has concluded a mutual recognition agreement, making it a mutual recognition agreement.

By doing these checks, accurately translating, and ensuring that you conduct a post compliance review, can aid you in achieving the correct packaging for international shipments.

There are several ways that you should continue to cross-check food labelling to ensure it’s ready for export and you can continue to make your business money. With so much to consider as well as translation to ensure accurate compliance, there are several ways that you can begin to benefit from this and ensure your packaging is ready for distribution throughout the EU, regardless of the type of packaging that you are using.