All sturgeon caviar containers in domestic and international trade have to bear a non-reusable label containing details about the source and the country of origin of the caviar. Governments around the world have agreed to a universal caviar labelling system to ensure that all caviar entering the market is from legal sources. The caviar labelling system helps governments, traders and consumers distinguish legal caviar in trade from illegal caviar. This article highlights requirements that governments and the caviar industry need to implement under the universal caviar labelling system.
BACKGROUND
All species of sturgeon and paddlefish have been listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1998.
To facilitate the legal caviar trade around the world and allow the easy identification of the source and origin of caviar, governments agreed at a CITES meeting in 2000 to introduce a standardised labelling system for all caviar exports. Two years later, they extended the labelling requirements and agreed that all caviar containers in trade, whether imported, exported, re-exported or in domestic markets, should bear a label that would contain a specific set of information, including the country of origin and the year of harvest, to allow identification of the source of the caviar. Governments agreed that, as of January 2004, they would only accept imported caviar shipments marked according to the labelling guidelines. In addition to this, they agreed that all caviar sold on domestic markets would also require labels, including caviar that is re-packaged.
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.
1. Standard species code: CITES has determined three-letter codes for the identification of sturgeon and paddlefish species, hybrids and mixed species. 'HUS', for example, is the standard species code for Beluga Huso huso. These codes are provided in Table 1 further down in this article.
2. Source code: A letter used on CITES documents to indicate the source of the caviar, either 'W' for sturgeon harvested from the wild or 'C' for captive-bred sturgeon. Since the trade of Wild Sturgeon is strictly forbidden and illegal. All caviar source code must be labelled with the letter 'C'.
3. Country of origin code: This is the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) two-letter code for the country of origin, e.g. IR for Iran, RU for Russia, PL for Poland. A list of ISO country codes can be found at http://www.cites.org/ eng/disc/parties/alphabet.shtml
4. Year of repacking
5. Official registration code of repackaging plant: Each importing and re-exporting country should establish a national registration system for re-packaging plants, with official registration codes assigned to each. The code should incorporate the ISO two letter code of the country of repackaging if different from the country of origin e.g. if the caviar was repacked in the United Kingdom it will start with GB. A list of ISO country codes can be found at http://www.cites.org/eng/ disc/parties/alphabet.shtml
6. Lot identification number OR CITES export permit number OR CITES re-export certificate number.
TABLE 1:
EXAMPLE OF SOME OF THE COMMON SPECIES CODES FOR STURGEON
Standard Species Scientific Name Code
Acipenser baerii: Siberian Sturgeon - Baerii Caviar BAE
Acipenser gueldenstaedtii: Russian Sturgeon - Oscietra Caviar GUE
Huso huso: Great Sturgeon - Beluga Caviar HUS
Acipenser schrenckii: Amur Sturgeon - Schrencki Caviar SCH
Huso dauricus: Kaluga Sturgeon - Kaluga Caviar DAU
Hybrid Species
Acipenser schrencki x Kaluga Sturgeon - Imperial Caviar SCHxDAU
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