Published July 25, 2021 at 12.07
Domestic. The requirements for Swedish water and dilution in Sweden contained in the product specifications for the geographical indications Swedish Vodka and Swedish Akvavit do not comply with EU law. This is stated by the Court of Appeal in a judgment.
Like the article p & aring; Facebook
The National Food Administration has previously decided to submit product specifications for the protected geographical indications Swedish Vodka and Swedish Akvavit to the EU Commission.
The decision was made in connection with the EU Alcohol Regulation as otherwise establishes product specifications for protected geographical indications for spirits.
But the decision has been appealed by companies that produce vodka and aquavit, respectively, to the administrative court and then on to the appellate court. The companies have objected to how the product specifications are designed. The main question in the cases is, among other things, whether the requirements for Swedish water and dilution in Sweden are compatible with the EU legal regulations.
The Court of Appeal now assesses that the National Food Administration has not shown that the requirements for Swedish water and dilution in Sweden have a such a connection with vodka and the quality or reputation of aquavit that they are suitable, necessary and proportionate.
– The investigation does not show, for example, that the quality of Swedish Vodka or Swedish Akvavit is affected to any appreciable extent by is just Swedish. Nor is the National Food Administration's argument that consumers expect Swedish Vodka and Swedish Akvavit to be all – Swedish products sufficiently substantiated, says the court's chair in the cases Eva-Lotta Hedin, in a statement.