Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has signed into law the regulation requiring alcohol labelling with health warnings. This was announced by the Ministry of Health in Dublin.
The first example in Europe, the law requires that the labels of alcoholic products indicate the caloric content and grams of alcohol in the product and contain warnings about the risk of consuming alcohol during pregnancy and the risk ofliver disease and fatal cancers due to alcohol consumption.
The law will apply after a transition period of three years, from 22 May 2026. "I am delighted that we are the first country in the world to take this step and introduce comprehensive health labelling of alcoholic products," said Donnelly, "I look forward to other countries following our example."
The Irish alcohol label has raised criticism from several EU states, including Italy, WTO member states and producers of alcoholic beverages as a barrier to trade, "unjustified and disproportionate". The European Commission has given the green light by silence-assent to the Irish proposal, despite the controversy. The topic will be on the agenda of a meeting of the Technical Barriers to Trade Committee on 21 June. Last week, European and national associations of wine, beer and spirits producers lodged official complaints with the EU Commission to open infringement proceedings against Ireland.