An EU consortium of manufacturers is threatening action against confectionery and biscuit processors if they persist in describing their products as ‘Belgian’ from next month, industry experts have warned.
The Royal Belgian Association of The Biscuit, Chocolate, Pralines and Confectionery businesses (CHOPRABISCO) has devised the ‘Belgian Chocolate Code’. The document provides guidelines for legal action against companies describing their food products as ‘Belgian’ if they are made outside Belgium and relates to EU labelling directive 2000/13.
Referring to article 2 1.a)i) of the law, Tony Mycock, director and founder of independent chocolate supplier HB Ingredients, said: “Basically, the upshot is that from September 1 when using Belgian Chocolate on or in products made outside Belgium, you must not use terms such as ‘Belgian Chocolates’ or ‘Belgian Biscuits’.”
Eversheds partner Owen Warnock said the stance taken by CHOPRABISCO showed it was serious about pursuing legal action against companies flouting the law. Prosecutions were likely to be made by Trading Standards and would result in fines similar to those imposed after other instances of misleading labelling.
Warnock added: “The amount of the fine is not the major concern. It’s the publicity and the fact that processors may have a lot of packaging to scrap.” Any manufacturer making substantial changes to chocolate sourced from Belgium, such as mixing it with toffee or nuts, would have to abide by the rules, he said.
He added that UK firms could not continue to use the term ‘Belgian’ by seeking EU Protected Geographical Indication for their products, as this only applied to products of agricultural origin.
However, he said further moves by CHOPRABISCO to clamp down on companies using terms such as ‘Belgian style/recipe’ were unlikely to succeed under the law.