Europe makes it illegal to sell non-alcoholic drinks with the word ‘Gin’ on their labeling
He Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled this Thursday that non-alcoholic beverages because such reference is reserved for a specific alcoholic beverage.
The European High Court thus responds to the complaint filed by a German association to combat unfair competition that sued the company PB Vi Goods before the German justice system to be prohibited from sell its non-alcoholic drink ‘Virgin Gin Alkoholfrei’considering that it violates the community regulations that establish that the name ‘gin’ defines the flavoring of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin with juniper berries, with an alcoholic strength of 37.5%.
In this regard, the ruling makes it clear that community legislation “clearly prohibits the presentation and labeling of beverages as ‘non-alcoholic gin'”
“irrelevant” “no alcohol” and clarifies that the freedom of enterprise enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union does not refute this prohibition and, therefore, does not invalidate it.
Thus, the sentence reasons,
According to the CJEU, it is also a “proportionate” ban which seeks to protect both consumers from any risk of confusion regarding the composition of the products, and producers from the risk of unfair competition.
