Article 7

Spirit drinks shall be categorised in accordance with the general rules laid down in this Article and the specific rules laid down in Annex I. Without prejudice to the specific rules laid down for each of the categories of spirit drinks 1 to 14 of Annex I, the spirit drinks of those categories shall: be produced by alcoholic fermentation and distillation, and exclusively obtained from the raw material provided for under the corresponding category of spirit drinks in Annex I; have no addition of alcohol, whether diluted or not; not be flavoured; not be coloured with anything except caramel used exclusively for adjusting the colour of those spirit drinks; not be sweetened, except to round off the final taste of the product; the maximum content of sweetening products, expressed as invert sugar, shall not exceed the thresholds set out for each category in Annex I; not contain adjuncts other than whole unprocessed items of the raw material from which the alcohol is obtained, and which are mainly used for decorative purposes. Without prejudice to the specific rules laid down for each of the categories of spirit drinks 15 to 44 of Annex I, the spirit drinks of those categories may: be produced from any agricultural raw material listed in Annex I to the Treaty; have addition of alcohol; contain flavouring substances, natural flavouring substances, flavouring preparations and flavouring foodstuffs; be coloured; be sweetened. Without prejudice to the specific rules laid down in Annex II, spirit drinks which do not comply with the specific rules laid down for each of the categories set out in Annex I may: be produced from any agricultural raw material listed in Annex I to the Treaty or from any foodstuff or both; have addition of alcohol; be flavoured; be coloured; be sweetened.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-08 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.