Bottled natural mineral, spring and table water intended for drinking purposes.

Draft Ordinance on the requirements for bottled natural mineral, spring and table water intended for drinking purposes.

The draft normative act has been prepared on the grounds of art. 5 of the Food Act.

The draft act will repeal the currently in force Regulation on the requirements for natural mineral, spring and table water intended for drinking purposes, which was issued on the basis of the repealed Food Act. The adoption of the Decree and the corresponding Ordinance will ensure the continuation of the necessary legal regulations regarding the quality of bottled water intended for drinking purposes, in order to prevent the emergence of health risks for consumers, by complying with the necessary requirements for the quality of bottled water, the permissible treatment, the bottling conditions and the control. The adoption of the decree will also ensure the further application of European legislation in this area — Commission Directive 2003/40/EC of 16 May 2003 establishing the list, concentration limits and labelling requirements for the constituents of natural mineral waters and the conditions for the use of ozone-enriched air for the treatment of natural mineral waters and spring waters (OJ 2007 Special Bulgarian Edition 2007, Chapter 13, Volume 39) and Directive 2009/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters (OJ L 164, 26.6.2009).The application of Commission Regulation (EU) No 115/2010 of 9 February 2010 laying down the conditions of use of activated aluminium oxide for the removal of fluoride from natural mineral and spring waters will also be ensured.

The new Ordinance on the requirements for bottled natural mineral, spring and table water intended for drinking purposes will also ensure the application of the new requirements for bottled water introduced by the current Food Act, in particular with regard to the issuance of a certificate for spring water, obtained and produced on the territory of the country and imported from third countries, certifying that by origin, composition and properties the respective spring water is suitable for bottling for drinking purposes. This requirement applies only to spring waters extracted and bottled in the Republic of Bulgaria or in third countries, but not to spring waters extracted and bottled in the territory of any of the Member States. In relation to this provision, concerning only Bulgarian spring waters or spring waters from third countries, the draft regulation is notified to the Commission in accordance with Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9  September 2015 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services.