Fish imported into Iceland from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) that are subsequently defrosted, headed, filleted, boned, trimmed, salted and packed, cannot be labelled as being made in the Nordic country, the European Free Trade Area Court has ruled.

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It had been asked by Iceland’s Reykjanes District Court whether these processes were sufficient to change the origin of imported fish.


The ruling is a legal precedent for all EU and EFTA countries, (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein). A key problem was an EEA regulation insisting that imported ingredients for a processed food product should not exceed 10% of the final value for its origin to be the place of manufacture.

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