Labeling Law postponed

The Ministry of Agriculture announced in May 2018 that the labels attached to domestic and imported pet food products produced after September 1, 2019 shall comply with the Pet Food Labeling Regulations introduced in 2018 as well.

In the recent months, multiple pet food manufacturers have reported that the current inventory of products using old labels remains large, and the transition to products with new labels before the specified date would cause serious economic losses. After investigation and verification, and in order to reduce the waste of resources and limit the burden on manufacturers and importers, the Ministry announced on September 2, 2019 the following adjustments.

First, the transition period of pet food labels will be extended for a period of 6 months, i.e labels attached to domestic and imported pet food products produced after March 1, 2020 shall comply with the Pet Pet Labeling Regulations.

Until March 1, 2020, pet food manufacturers may continue to use packages with the old version of the label, but should attach a temporary additional label displaying the required additional product information that may be missing from the original label, along with the following mention : “This product complies with pet food hygiene regulations”. The additional label should be pasted or attached to a prominent location next to the old label, using font sizes equal to those used for texts on the old label.

After March 1, 2020, the Ministry will resume supervision and law enforcement on pet food labels in accordance with the requirements of the “Pet Feed Labeling Regulations”.