UNIVERSAL CAVIAR LABELLING REQUIREMENTS

All sturgeon caviar BACKGROUND

containers in domestic and
international trade have to All species of sturgeon and paddlefish have been listed in the Appendices of the

bear a non-reusable label Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) since 1998. Two species—the Common or Baltic Sturgeon Acipenser sturio
containing details about the
and the Shortnose Sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum—are listed in Appendix I of the
source and the country of
Convention, which prohibits any international commercial trade. All other species
origin of the caviar. are listed in Appendix II, whereby international trade is regulated by governments
Governments around the through a system of permits.
world have agreed to a
universal caviar labelling With the aim of facilitating the legal caviar trade around the world and allowing the
system with the aim of easy identification of the source and origin of caviar, governments agreed at a CITES

ensuring that all caviar meeting in 2000 to introduce a standardized labelling system for all caviar exports.
Two years later, they extended the labelling requirements and agreed that all caviar
entering the market is from
containers in trade, whether imported, exported, re-exported or in domestic
legal sources. The caviar
markets, should bear a label that would contain a specific set of information, including
labelling system helps the country of origin and the year of harvest, to allow identification of the source of
governments, traders and the caviar. Governments agreed that, as of January 2004, they would only accept
consumers in distinguishing imported caviar shipments marked according to the labelling guidelines. In addition
legal caviar in trade from to this they agreed that all caviar sold on domestic markets would also require labels,
illegal caviar. This leaflet including caviar that is re-packaged. A detailed description of information that needs

highlights requirements that to be included on the labels can be found in CITES Resolution Conf. 12.7 (Rev. CoP14).

governments and the caviar

As a result of these developments, governments around the world have started to
industry need to implement
enact and implement legal and administrative measures at the national level to meet
under the universal caviar the CITES provisions on caviar labelling. In May 2006, the European Union (EU)
labelling system. adopted Commission Regulation (EC) No. 865/2006,
later amended by Regulation (EC) No. 100/2008,
which has made the labelling of all caviar containers
obligatory in all EU Member States. As a result, all
caviar containers in the EU market, regardless of
their size, are required to bear a CITES label.
Credit: Emma Duncan/WWF-Canon

It is therefore essential that everyone involved in

the trade and marketing of caviar (including
importers, exporters, wholesalers, retailers,
restaurants and travel businesses, such as cruise
ship operators, airlines and luxury hotels) are
aware of the labelling requirements so that all can
adequately implement and comply with the new
Beluga caviar can fetch retail prices of up to EUR 600 per 100 g.
 rules. Consumers will also benefit from these new labelling requirements as they will
allow them to verify the legality of caviar when making their purchasing choices.

STURGEON PRODUCTS AFFECTED

Credit: Sergey Kuznetsov

All caviar from all species of sturgeon and paddlefish are covered by CITES. Common
names and grades of caviar include: Beluga, asetra, osetra, sevruga, kaluga, hackleback,
paddlefish, shovel-nosed sturgeon, American sturgeon, American black and sterlet.
CITES covers trade in all specimens, parts and products (derivatives) of sturgeons
and paddlefish, including caviar, meat, leather, live fish, fertilized eggs, cartilage and fish
glue. Pressed caviar, pasteurized caviar and the most commonly exported caviar,
lightly salted "malossol", are also covered by CITES. Any international shipments of
these products must therefore always be accompanied by the relevant CITES
permits. For further information on CITES permits, contact the CITES Management
Authority in your country or visit the CITES Secretariat website (at www.cites.org).

The CITES labelling requirements currently apply only to caviar. Roe from non-
CITES-listed fish, including products often referred to as "caviar substitutes", are not
regulated by CITES. In several countries (and in the EU), the use of the word "caviar"
is restricted, by law, to roe of sturgeon and paddlefish.

LABELLING REQUIREMENTS

Under the CITES requirements for caviar labelling, all primary containers of caviar
must have a non-reusable label, which means that the label cannot be removed
without being damaged. This includes tins, boxes, jars or any other container into
which caviar is directly packed, regardless of their size or whether their shipping
destination is domestic or international.The labelling requirements apply to all caviar
whether it is produced for commercial or non-commercial purposes and sold
internationally or on the domestic market.The non-reusable label is to be affixed by
a processing or re-packaging plant. The label must either seal the container or the
caviar must be packaged in such a manner as to permit visual evidence of any opening
of the container. The information that appears on the label must be included in or
attached to the CITES export permit. There are two types of labels—the type used
depends on whether the caviar is packed by a processing plant in the country of
origin or re-packaged in another country.

Photos above:

Caviar seized in Germany in

March 2005.
Credit: Customs Investigation Office Essen,
Germany
 LABEL: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
The label for caviar containers
packed by processing plants in the
country of origin should include the
Standard Source of the caviar
following information, in the order species code
described: (Table 1) Country of origin ISO code

1. Standard species code: CITES has

determined three-letter codes for the HUS/W/RU/2000/xxxx/yyyy
identification of sturgeon and paddlefish
Year of Number for the Lot
species, hybrids and mixed species. 'HUS', harvest processing plant identification
for example, is the standard species code number
for Beluga Huso huso.These codes are
provided in Table 1.
2. Source code: A letter used on CITES
documents to indicate the source of the
caviar, either 'W' for sturgeon harvested 5. Official registration code of the
from the wild or 'C' for captive-bred processing plant: Each exporting country
sturgeon. should establish a national registration
3. Country of origin code:This is the system for processing plants, with official
International Organization for registration codes assigned to each. This
Standardization (ISO) two-letter code number corresponds to that code.
for the country of origin, e.g. RU for the 6. Lot identification number:
Russian Federation. A list of ISO country This is a number that corresponds
codes can be found at http://www.cites.org/ to information related to the caviar
eng/disc/parties/alphabet.shtml tracking system used by the
4.Year of harvest processing or re-packaging plant.

LABEL: COUNTRY OF RE-PACKAGING

If an importer or trader repackages
the caviar in their own tins, jars, boxes
or any type of new container, they Country of origin Official registration code of the
must affix a new label on every new ISO code repackaging plant, including
caviar container, regardless of the size Standard species code country of repackaging
(Table 1)
of the container or whether the
shipping destination is domestic or PER/W/IR/2001/IT-wwww/zzzz
international. It must include the
following information, in the order Source of Year of re- Lot identification number,
described: the caviar packaging or CITES export permit
number or re-export
certificate
1. Standard species code (as described number
above)
2. Source code (as described above)
3. Country of origin code (as described
above) repackaging if different from the country
4.Year of re-packaging of origin. A list of ISO country codes can
5. Official registration code of be found at http://www.cites.org/eng/
repackaging plant: Each importing and disc/parties/alphabet.shtml
re-exporting country should establish a 6. Lot identification number OR
national registration system for CITES export permit number OR
re-packaging plants, with official regis- CITES re-export certificate number.
tration codes assigned to each.This number
corresponds to that code (as described
above).The code should incorporate the
ISO two letter code of the country of
TABLE 1: To obtain CITES Resolution
STANDARD SPECIES CODES FOR STURGEON AND PADDLEFISH Conf. 12.7 (Rev. CoP14) on
Caviar Labelling, for
Standard further information about
Species CITES, and to find the
Scientific Name Code
contact details of the
Acipenser baerii: Siberian Sturgeon BAE relevant authorities in your
country, visit
Acipenser baerii baicalensis: Baikal Sturgeon BAI
www.cites.org .
Acipenser brevirostrum: Shortnosed Sturgeon BVI
Acipenser dabryanus:Yangtze Sturgeon DAB
For information on the
(Dabry's sturgeon, Changjiang Sturgeon, River Sturgeon)
regulations relating to trade
Acipenser fulvescens: Lake Sturgeon FUL
and labelling of caviar in
(Freshwater Sturgeon, Great Lakes Sturgeon, Red Sturgeon,
the European Union, visit
Rock Sturgeon, Ruddy Sturgeon, Shell-back Sturgeon,
the CITES website of the
Smoothback, Stone Sturgeon, Bony Sturgeon)
European Commission at
Acipenser gueldenstaedtii: Russian Sturgeon GUE
http://europa.eu.int/comm/
Acipenser medirostris: Green Sturgeon MED
environment/cites/
Acipenser mikadoi: Sakhalin Sturgeon MIK home_en.htm
Acipenser naccarii: Adriatic Sturgeon (Italian Sturgeon) NAC or the EU Wildlife Trade
Acipenser nudiventris: Ship Sturgeon NUD Information pages under
Acipenser oxyrhynchus: Atlantic Sturgeon OXY www.eu-wildlifetrade.org
Acipenser oxyrhynchus desotoi: Gulf Sturgeon DES
Acipenser persicus: Persian Sturgeon PER TRAFFIC,
(Fringebarbel Sturgeon,Thorn Sturgeon, Spiny Sturgeon) the wildlife trade
Acipenser ruthenus: Sterlet RUT monitoring network,
Acipenser schrencki: Amur Sturgeon SCH works to ensure that
Acipenser sinensis: Chinese Sturgeon SIN trade in wild plants and
Acipenser stellatus: Stellate Sturgeon STE animals is not a threat to
(Sevruga, Star Sturgeon, Starry Sturgeon) the conservation of nature.
Acipenser sturio: Common Sturgeon (Baltic Sturgeon) STU For further information
Acipenser transmontanus:White Sturgeon TRA about TRAFFIC visit
Huso dauricus: Kaluga Sturgeon DAU www.traffic.org .
Huso huso: Giant sturgeon (Beluga, Great Sturgeon) HUS
This leaflet was
Polyodon spathula: American Paddlefish SPA
made possible with the
Psephurus gladius: Chinese paddlefish (Chinese Swordfish) GLA
generous support of WWF.
Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi: Syr-Dar Shovelnose FED
The Rufford Maurice Laing
Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni: Small Amu-Dar Shovelnose HER
Foundation and the Baltic
Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni: Large Amu-Dar Shovelnose KAU
Sea Task Force are
(False Shovelnose Sturgeon, Shovelfish)
gratefully acknowledged for
Scaphirhynchus albus: Pallid Sturgeon ALB
their contribution towards
(White Hackleback,White Shovelnose)
the production of this
Scaphirhynchus platorynchus: Shovelnose Sturgeon PLA
leaflet.
(Switchtail, Sand Sturgeon, Oregon Sturgeon, Sacramento Sturgeon)
Scaphirhynchus suttkusi: Alabama Sturgeon SUS
Mixed species (for “pressed” caviar exclusively) MIX
Hybrid specimens:
code for the species of the male YYY YYYxXXX
code for the species of the female XXX YYYxXXX

Source: Annex 2 of CITES Resolution Conf. 12.7 (Rev. CoP14)

Credit: Vitaly Loyanich
Credit: Emma Duncan
/WWF-Canon

is a joint programme of

© TRAFFIC, October 2009