Bottled Waters Lack Spring Origin, Says Competition Protection Commission

The Competition Protection Commission has examined the activities of all entities engaged in the production and sale of still bottled waters labeled as 'spring water' and 'natural drinking water', resulting in legal proceedings against 12 entities for misleading the public in the area of economic competition.

Within the scope of these proceedings, it was found that 9 operating entities had produced and sold still bottled waters labeled as 'spring water' and/or 'natural drinking water' even though these products do not qualify as 'spring water' and 'natural drinking water' under the Eurasian Economic Union regulations. Specifically, they lack spring origin and/or have been treated with chlorine-derived products at some stage of production.

According to the technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union on 'Safety of Packaged Drinking Water, including Natural Mineral Water' (EAEU TR 044/2017), water labeled as 'spring water' must have a spring origin and, similarly to 'natural drinking water', must not have been treated with chlorine-derived products at any stage of production.

Therefore, even water obtained from a centralized water supply system (the operators acquired water from 'Veolia Water') cannot be bottled and sold under the labels 'spring water' and 'natural drinking water'. Moreover, it is irrelevant whether the water has undergone dechlorination prior to bottling.

As a result of the proceedings, the Commission issued warnings to 6 operators, fined 3, while 3 cases were dismissed. It is noteworthy that the discussion pertains to the waters depicted in the image below.