Beer

Draft Decree-Law establishing the characteristics and rules on the production, legal name, marketing and labelling of beers

Ministerial Implementing Order No 1/96 of 3 January 1996 implemented the legal framework governing the manufacture and marketing of beers, as provided for in Decree-Law No 93/94 of 7 April 1994, establishing the technical standards regarding definitions, classification, composition and characteristics of beers, packaging and labelling rules, as well as the respective methods of analysis and sampling.

As a result of the strong technical innovation and creativity that characterise beer production, namely the appearance of artisanal beer production, and the guarantee of a level playing field with beers sold on the European market, it is necessary to change the existing legal system.
The normative changes that have also occurred in the meantime on the provision of food information to consumers, introduced, namely, by Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 and Decree-Law No 26/2016 of 9 June 2016, have determined that the legal system in force is outdated, recommending its revision.
In this context, Decree-Law No 93/94 of 7 April 1994 and Ministerial Implementing Order No 1/96 of 3 January 1996, as amended by Ministerial Implementing Order No 180/96 of 29 May 1996 are hereby repealed, establishing in this Decree-Law the characteristics and rules on the production and marketing of beers, adapting the national legislation to the European Union regulations in force in terms of food safety, packaging, contaminants, additives and labelling of foodstuffs.
In terms of labelling, the legal name of beer on the market is defined and it should be noted that the list of ingredients, in accordance with the option permitted under Article 41 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011, must also appear on the labelling of beer containing more than 1.2 % by volume of alcohol. The information relating to the list of ingredients must therefore be included in all marketing of pre-packaged beer, regardless of strength by volume of alcohol.