Brexit transition: How-To-Prepare guide for changes to labelling food sold in
Northern Ireland
Goods sold in Northern Ireland will continue to follow EU rules for food labelling from
1 January 2021. If you label food produced in Northern Ireland for sale, there are
important steps that you can take now to prepare for changes. This guide highlights
some of the most important actions.
For further guidance, access our Transition Checker for a list of personalised
actions.
1. Check the changes you need to make to food labelling for your business
from 01 January 2021 and take action now.
Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, goods sold in NI will continue to follow EU rules
for food labelling. There will be changes to labelling that apply from the end of the
transition period. However, the UK Government recognises that businesses will need
time to adapt to these new labelling rules.
In line with previous rule changes for labelling, there will be a proportionate and
risk-based enforcement approach, particularly for:
● Identification marks;
● Food Business Operator (FBO) address requirements; &
● ‘UK(NI)’ origin labelling requirements
This approach will be implemented in a way which supports businesses as they
adapt to the requirements over time.
Click here for more information.
2. You will need a Northern Ireland or EU Food Business Operator address
from 1 January 2021 if you sell any pre-packaged food or caseins in
Northern Ireland.
Pre-packaged food or caseins sold in NI must include a NI or EU Food Business
Operator (FBO) address from 1 January 2021. If the FBO is not in NI or EU, include
the address of your importer, based in NI or the EU. You can continue to use an EU,
GB or NI address for the FBO on pre-packaged food or caseins sold in GB until 30
September 2022.
From 1 October 2022, pre-packaged food or caseins sold in GB must include a UK
address for the FBO. If the FBO is not in the UK, include the address of your
importer, based in the UK.
3. Check if you can use an EU organic logo on your produce from January
2021.
You must continue to include the EU logo and statement of agriculture for products
produced in NI.
As the EU has recognised UK control bodies, you may continue to use the EU
organic logo on GB organic food or feed until 31 December 2021.
You can continue to use your approved UK organic control body logo in GB and NI.
In GB, you must change the statement of agriculture to ‘UK agriculture’, ‘UK /
non-UK agriculture’ or ‘non-UK Agriculture’. This will need to be changed by 30
September 2022.
Click here to find out more.
4. Check you are using the correct country of origin labels for your
produce.
Where EU law does not require an EU member state to be indicated, food from and
sold in NI can continue to use ‘origin EU’ or ‘origin UK’.
● You should label food from and sold in NI as ‘UK(NI)’ or ‘United Kingdom
(Northern Ireland)’ where EU law requires member state from 1 January 2021.
● You may label food from NI and sold in GB as ‘UK(NI)’, ‘United Kingdom
(Northern Ireland)’ or ‘UK’.
Food from and sold in GB can be labelled as ‘origin EU’ until 30 September 2022.
From 1 October 2022, food from GB must not be labelled as ‘origin EU’.
Further information can be found here.
5. If your product carries a Geographical Indication (GI) logo, check what
changes apply to you from 01 January 2021.
GI-protected food or drink products (except wine or spirits) produced and for sale in
GB must use the relevant UK logo on packaging and marketing materials, for
example a website or advert.
● The logo use is optional for GI-protected wine or spirits.
● The UK will set up its own GI schemes from 1 January 2021.
Producers or retailers of GB food, drink and agricultural GI products registered
before 1 January 2021, will have until 1 January 2024 to change packaging and
marketing materials to display the new UK GI logos.
The UK logo will be mandatory for GB products registered from 1 January 2021
onwards.
For producers or retailers of food and agricultural GI products in NI, it will be:
● mandatory to continue using the EU logos when the product is on sale in NI if
the product is registered under the EU GI schemes
● optional to use the new UK GI logos if the product is registered under the UK
GI schemes
GI products that are protected in the EU can continue to use the EU logo in the UK
after the transition period.
Find out more about protecting food and drink names from 1 January 2021.
6. For minced meat (other than beef and veal), make sure you check food
labelling changes that will apply to your business.
Minced meat sold in NI must refer to ‘EU’ and ‘non-EU’ when the label does not list
each country of origin from 1 January 2021.
For minced meat sold in GB, you can continue to refer to ‘EU’ and ‘non-EU’ until 30
September 2022.
From 1 October 2022, you must use ‘non-UK’ or ‘UK and non-UK’ when the label
does not list each country of origin.
7. For fruit and vegetables, make sure you check food labelling changes
that will apply to your business.
For mixes of fruit and vegetables sold in NI, you must refer to ‘EU’ and ‘non-EU’
when the label does not list each country of origin.
For mixes of fruit and vegetables sold in GB you can continue to refer to ‘EU’ and
‘non-EU’ until 30 September 2022.
From 1 October 2022, you must use ‘non-UK’ or ‘UK and non-UK’ when the label
does not list each country of origin. If you’re part of the Approved Trader Scheme,
you must remove the EU emblem from your UK food labels and use the replacement
GB label from 1 January 2021.
You should sell existing stock with the EU emblem on only in GB, until it runs out.
8. For olive oil, make sure you check food labelling changes that will apply
to your business.
Olive oil blends sold in NI must refer to ‘EU’ and ‘non-EU’ when the label does not
list each country of origin from 1 January 2021.
From 1 October 2022 you cannot use the term ‘non-EU’ for olive oil blends sold in
GB. If your extra virgin or virgin olive oil is a blend of oils from different countries, the
label must contain one of the following:
● a list of each country of origin
● the statement ‘blend of olive oils from more than one country’ or similar
wording
● the name of the trading bloc to which a regional trade agreement applies, for
example ‘blend of olive oils of European Union origin’
9. For honey blends, make sure you check food labelling changes that will
apply to your business.
If you place honey on the UK market before 1 January 2021, it can stay on the
market using the current origin wording if the label was accurate at the time:
● ‘blend of EU honeys’
● ‘blend of non-EU honeys’
● ‘blend of EU and non-EU honeys’
You can continue to list the countries of origin of honey blends placed on the UK
market from 1 January 2021. If you choose to use alternative wording the rules for
labelling honey blends will change.
Click here for more detailed information and what applies to you.
10. For beef and veal, make sure you check food labelling changes that will
apply to you from January 2021.
Beef and veal sold in NI must refer to ‘Origin: non-EU’ if the animal your beef or veal
came from was born, reared or slaughtered outside of the EU and you do not have
the full individual country information from 1 January 2021.
For beef and veal sold in GB you can refer to ‘non EU’ until 30 September 2022.
From 1 October 2022, you must use ‘non-UK’ when the full individual country
information is not available.
11. For eggs, make sure you check food labelling changes that will apply to
you from 01 January 2021.
You should continue to mark eggs imported and sold in NI that do not meet EU egg
marketing and trade regulations as ‘non-EC standard’ from 1 January 2021. You can
read about NI egg marketing standards.
In GB, you can continue to mark eggs that do not meet domestic egg trade
regulations as ‘non-EC standard’ or ‘non-UK standard’ until 30 September 2022.
From 1 October 2022, you should mark these eggs as ‘non-UK standard’.
You can read about egg marketing standards from 1 January 2021.