Government Decision No. HG225/2025 validating the Regulation on beer and beer-based beverages.

The Regulation establishes specific rules for the production, packaging, labelling, marketing, and quality and safety requirements applicable to beer and beer-based beverages falling under certain customs tariff positions. The Regulation defines a wide range of technical notions (beer, non-alcoholic beer, low-alcohol beer, cereal beer, special beer, beer-based beverages, wort, malt types, malt extract, sugar syrups, acidity and colour units, acquired alcoholic strength, and lot). It specifies permitted raw materials and technological aids, prohibits the addition of ethyl alcohol and certain enrichment substances above 1.2% vol., and sets detailed product categories based on ingredients, colour, thermal and physical treatment, alcoholic strength, and wort extract content. It lays down organoleptic and physico-chemical quality criteria, including clarity, foam height and stability, pH ranges by product type, minimum carbon dioxide content, and reference to annexed tables of sensory characteristics. Safety is to be ensured through food safety management systems and HACCP-based procedures, and the use of lead-containing capsules or foils in packaging is banned. The text further regulates technological processes allowed and prohibited in production, including specific conditions for substituting malt with unmalted cereals and adding sugar or sugar syrups. It introduces mandatory and optional labelling indications, including product category, non-alcoholic indications and wording, wort extract content, filtration and pasteurisation status, colour category, cereal specification, storage conditions, and rules for indicating alcoholic strength. Provisions on traceability require annual declarations of production and circulation, record-keeping, and the ability to trace raw materials, packaging materials, and finished products along the entire chain. The Regulation also sets storage and marketing conditions, including requirements for draft beer and permitted propellant gases. A detailed procedure for self-declaration of conformity is established, covering the content and registration of declarations, the role and records of accredited laboratories, sampling and analysis protocols, organoleptic assessment, and annual self-control obligations for operators. For imported products, conformity may be demonstrated either by self-declaration based on analysis reports or by a conformity certificate issued by a recognized body.