,The South African Department of Agriculture has issued amendments to the Liquor Products Regulations under the Liquor Products Act, 1989 (Act No. 60 of 1989) through the Regulations: Amendment instrument published in March 2025. The amendments introduce updated definitions, revise production standards, adjust labelling and designation requirements, and expand the list of permitted substances and ingredients across multiple categories of liquor products.
Key Regulatory Updates
New Definition Introduced
The term wort has been formally defined as the liquid portion of the mash that contains soluble sugars produced during the mashing process, providing regulatory clarity for brewing and fermentation processes.
Revisions to Production Standards
Sugar fermented alcoholic beverages must now:
Have an alcohol content not exceeding 6%.
Be produced through alcoholic fermentation of plant-origin sugars (including cane sugar, beet sugar, glucose syrup, dextrose syrup, golden syrup, and similar syrups) with potable water, with or without permitted flavourings.
Wine Classification Updates
Expanded and clarified wine class designations, including categories such as:
skin-macerated white wines
extended barrel-aged whites
natural pale wines
low-alcohol wines
spirit-barrel-aged wines
method ancestrale wines
alternative red/rosé/white wines
The term sparkling wine may now serve as a sufficient class designation for all sparkling wine categories.
Labelling and Presentation Requirements
Mandatory particulars on labels must now:
Appear horizontally on the main label
Be presented on a uniform and clearly contrasted background
For alcoholic fruit beverages, if salt or flavourings are added:
The terms salt or flavour names may only be used together with the word flavoured, in the same colour, type, and size of lettering.
Cultivar Descriptor Expansion
From the 2026 vintage, the terms Moscato or Muscat may be used as cultivar descriptors for specified cultivars (including Muscat de Frontignan, Muscat dAlexandrie, Muscat Ottonel, and others), subject to conditions:
The wine must be certified
At least 85% of the wine must be derived from the listed cultivars
The descriptor cannot be used if any other cultivar names appear on the label
Permitted Substances and Ingredients (Table 6 Amendments)
Major updates to Table 6 include:
Expansion of liquor categories where substances may be added
Inclusion of cassava as a permitted substance in beer classes
Introduction of spirits-soaked wood as a permitted substance for beer classes
Broader permissions for additives across categories such as:
wine
flavoured beer
grape-based liquor
spirit-based liquor
grain fermented beverages
sugar fermented beverages
mead classes
kombucha
rice fermented alcoholic beverages
Deletions and Technical Amendments
Deletions of specific items from Tables 2, 3B, and 10, streamlining outdated or redundant provisions.
Technical corrections and harmonisation across multiple regulatory tables.
Regulatory Impact
These amendments modernise South Africas liquor regulatory framework by:
Aligning definitions with international brewing and fermentation terminology
Expanding innovation opportunities in fermented and flavoured alcoholic beverages
Strengthening labelling transparency for consumers
Providing clearer legal certainty for manufacturers, importers, and distributors
Compliance Timeline
Economic operators in the alcoholic beverage supply chain are advised to:
Review product formulations, ingredients, and production processes
Update labelling and marketing materials
Assess cultivar designations for wine products
Verify compliance with revised Table 6 substance permissions
to ensure continued market access and regulatory compliance under the amended Liquor Products Regulations.
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