The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has extended the date for enforcing new labelling rules for alcoholic beverages. These rules are part of the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) First Amendment Regulations, 2025. Earlier, the rules were supposed to start on January 1, 2026. Now, the new enforcement date is 1st July, 2026.
The notification issued on June 20, 2025, introduced new standards for different alcoholic drinks such as mead (honey wine), craft beer, Indian liquors, wine-based beverages, and alcoholic ready-to-drink (RTD) products. It also included changes in labelling requirements for these products.
A stakeholder pointed out that alcoholic beverages must also follow State Excise Laws. In many states, label registration takes place at the beginning of the excise year, which usually starts on April 1st or July 1st. Changing labels in the middle of the excise year can create many practical problems. It may lead to business disruption, waste of already printed labels, and extra cost for printing and re-registering new labels.
After reviewing these concerns, FSSAI decided to grant more time to the industry. The extension has been issued under the powers given to FSSAI under Section 16(5) of the Food Safety and Standards Act.