Produce Labels and the Circular Economy: CJEU interprets "Packaging" in Interfel (C-772/24)

On August 1, the CJEU delivered an interesting judgment in Interfel (C-772/24), which could assist in promoting sustainable consumption. 

Photo by amoon ra on Unsplash

In an effort to combat waste and support circular economy, French law prohibited the placing of labels directly on fruit or vegetables sold on French territory, unless the labels were home-compostable and made of bio-sourced materials (para 8). The idea was straightforward: consumers could more easily and sustainably dispose of spoiled fruit or vegetables. (Who has not spent hours of their life removing annoyingly sticky, unwilling-to-just-let-go labels from produce?) 

However, the question arose whether this national rule complied with Directive 94/62 on packaging and packaging waste. Article 18 of the Directive requires the Member States to permit the sale of products on their territory if their packaging complies with the Directive. This provision prevents Member States from imposing additional restrictions that could hinder the internal market.

The CJEU began by emphasising the Directive's environmental objectives: to reduce the impact of packaging and packaging waste on the environment, covering all packaging placed on the market (para 12). To assess whether the French measures complied with EU law, the Court examined the Directive's definition of "packaging". The term must be interpreted broadly (para 13), but still fulfil one of the functions set out in the Directive, namely: "containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods" (para 15). Packaging must also fall into one of the three categories: "sales packaging, grouped packaging or transport packaging" (para 17). Ancillary elements integrated into packaging are also considered packaging (para 20). Annex I to the Directive provides illustrative examples of packaging, including "labels hung directly on or attached to a product" (para 21).

In answering the national court's question, the CJEU stressed that, to qualify as packaging, a product must meet the above criteria (para 25). Specifically, it must perform at least one of the three main packaging functions: containment/protection, handling/delivery, or presentation. Labels on fruit and vegetables are typically smaller than the produce itself and therefore unlikely to provide containment or protection (para 28). Nor are they generally used for handling or delivery purposes (para 29). The remaining question was whether labels serve a presentation function - a matter the Court noted could depend on the specific context/ label (para 30).

In conclusion, the CJEU indicated that France may impose additional sustainable requirements for such labels, but only where the labels do not perform any of the three functions assigned to packaging under EU law.