Alcoholic goods are not a typical good. Rather, it is one of the most restricted types of commonly confused goods that comes to the food and drink market. And this is particularly so for ‘wine’, as it receives strong protection in EU regarding all sorts of issues: production methods, labelling, geographical designation, and the likes.
The curious case of Mål 7734-23, Drood v the Swedish Food Agency, that is presently before the Administrative Court of Uppsala (Förvaltningsrätten i Uppsala), raises a number of pertinent issues.
A deciding public authority in Sweden, the Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) made a decision in November 2023 that, following a site visit to Drood’s production facility, was of the view that the commercial undertaking did not meet the requirements of the applicable legislation in terms of trade standards (category of wine products) and information/labelling information for wine.
The private undertaking who manufacturered the foods – Drood – based in Gemla outside of Växjö in southern Sweden, produced and marked “alcoholic drinks made from grapes” that, whilst manufactuered in Swedden, were from frozen grapes in a third state (Iran).
EU secondary law in the form of Regulation 1308/2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products states, inter alia, that
‘Fresh grapes, grape must, grape must in fermentation, concentrated grape must, rectified concentrated grape must, grape must with fermentation arrested by the addition of alcohol, grape juice, concentrated grape juice and wine, or mixtures of those products, originating in third countries, may not be turned into products referred to in Part II of Annex VII or added to such products in the territory of the Union.’
Or in layman’s terms, third country goods cannot be used to make ‘wine’ if imported into the EU. And hence, Drood’s goods have never been called ‘wine’.
But there is no prohibition in calling such goods something else, despite not being labelled as ‘wine’. Indeed Sweden’s (in)famous state monopoly on the retail sale of alcoholic goods above 2.25% in Sweden, which Drood goods are, made it onto the shelves of Systembolaget, given the monopoly was satisfied the goods met all applicable laws, both national and EU.
The Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket), however, is insisting in some manner that notwithstanding that Drood do not produce wine, that its production must cease the manufacturing and selling of wine from frozen grapes from Iran, and to manufacture and sell alcoholic beverages produced in the same way as wine from frozen grapes from Iran.
Drood have successfully gotten the Administrative Court of Uppsala – where the public authority is based – to suspend the application of that decision, until it can finally decide the case on its merits.
The timeline of the case, Mål 7734-23, Drood v the Swedish Food Agency, before the Administrative Court of Uppsala (Förvaltningsrätten i Uppsala) can be accessed here.