On 17 December the European Union's agriculture ministers reached agreement on a new Spirit Drinks Regulation. This legislation (full text here: it's nearly 100 pages) has been in the pipeline for two years, having first been tabled on 15 December 2005. It seeks to enhance the clarity of current EU law on spirit drinks, merging two earlier Regulations and adapting the rules to take account of technical changes, WTO requirements and the EU's system of geographical indications. In particular the new law (which comes into force on the seventh day after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union)

* sets out clear definitions for all spirit drinks;

* stipulates that vodka made from cereals or potatoes will be labelled as "vodka" alone, while that based on other raw materials will bear the indication "produced from" plus the name of the raw material used.