Labelling of alcoholic beverages 

Mandatory labelling of alcoholic beverages:

• Name of the beverage (official, established or descriptive name of the beverage). The name of a beverage must not be confused with its trade name or trademark.
• Substances and products causing allergies and intolerances
• Volume of content
• Date of minimum durability or use-by date
• Special storage conditions and/or conditions of use where applicable
• Country of origin or provenance where failure to indicate this could mislead the consumer
• Instructions for use where applicable
• Alcoholic content of the beverage
• Name or business name and address of the food operator
• ID of the beverage or bottling batch (can be replaced with use-by date)
• Notification of genetically modified ingredients
• Indications related to the use of sweeteners
• Warning labels for certain substances (caffeine, liquorice)

In addition to the abovementioned mandatory labelling information, the following must be taken into account:

• Language requirements: the mandatory information must be given in Finnish and Swedish.
• Clarity of labelling: All mandatory information must be indelibly marked and easily legible in a font of sufficient size in an easily noticeable place. The minimum font size is 1.2 mm (height x).
• List of ingredients: The inclusion of a list of ingredients in the labelling of alcoholic beverages is not mandatory, but it is recommended. If a list of ingredients is used, all the ingredients and additives used must be listed in descending order of weight at the time of manufacture. For wines, a list of ingredients will be mandatory from 8 December 2023.
• Nutrition declaration: The inclusion of a nutrition declaration on the labelling of alcoholic beverages is not mandatory, but one may be added. The nutrition declaration must be added if a nutrition claim such as ‘light’ is used on the label. In the nutrition declaration of alcoholic beverages, indicating the energy content suffices. For wines, a nutrition declaration will be mandatory from 8 December 2023.
• Organic production: A reference to organic production is voluntary, but requires the manufacturer to be included in the control system in accordance with the EU Regulation on organic production (848/2018).
• Regulations concerning the marketing of alcoholic beverages: As the package of an alcoholic beverage serves not only as a means of providing product information but also as advertising space, the marketing regulations in the Alcohol Act must be taken into account when designing the package and its texts and illustrations. More information about marketing is available at end of this page.

Mandatory labelling of wines:

• Category of grapevine product, e.g. wine, liqueur wine, sparkling wine or quality sparkling wine – for more information, see Annex VII, Part II of Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013
• In the case of wines bearing a protected designation of origin (PDO) or protected geographical indication (PGI), the words ‘protected designation of origin’ or ‘protected geographical indication’ and the name of the PDO or PGI must appear on the package
• Actual alcoholic content as percentage by volume
• Indication of the provenance of the wine
• Name and address of the bottler and the words ‘bottler’ or ‘bottled by (…)’ or in the case of sparkling wine, aerated sparkling wine, quality sparkling wine or quality aromatic sparkling wine, the name and address of the producer or seller and the words ‘producer’ or ‘produced by (…)’ and ‘vendor’ or ‘sold by (...)’.
• Importer in the case of wine from a third country
• Information about ingredients causing allergies
• Volume of content
• Batch number
• Indication of the sugar content in the case of sparkling wine, aerated sparkling wine, quality sparkling wine or quality aromatic sparkling wine
• Nutrition declaration for wines produced or labelled after 8 December 2023
• List of ingredients for wines produced or labelled after 8 December 2023
• Date of minimum durability in the case of grapevine products which have been processed to remove alcohol and which have an actual alcoholic content of less than 10% by volume

Optional labelling information for wines:

• Vintage year
• Name of one or several wine grape varieties
• Sugar content in the case of wines for which it is not mandatory
• Terms referring to certain production methods such as maturation and ageing
• Wines with a protected designation of origin (PDO) or protected geographical indication (PGI) may be labelled with the Community symbol used to designate them and certain terms used to designate traditional production and ageing methods

The labelling of wines must be in one or several official Community languages to be easily understood by the end consumer. By way of derogation, however, labelling on sulphur dioxide and egg and milk products must always be in both Finnish and Swedish.