international european-union water
Origin of goods in international waters
<p>In the Europe Union, it is mandatory for a seller to indicate where the food is coming from. If fish were caught in international waters, should we consider its origin as the closest country or the ship's flag?</p>

<p><strong>If fish were caught in international waters, should we consider its origin as the closest country or the ship's flag?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Neither.</strong> The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/food-labelling-country-of-origin#fish-and-seafood-labelling" rel="noreferrer">rules</a> in the <a href="/questions/tagged/united-kingdom" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;united-kingdom&#39;" rel="tag">united-kingdom</a> (which is no longer in the EU, but I assume they are comparable as they have not been substantially changed since leaving) are:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Fish caught at sea</strong></p>
<p>You must label all fish caught at sea with the <a href="http://www.fao.org/fishery/area/search/en" rel="noreferrer">Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) catch
area</a>.</p>
<p>You must also label fish caught in the Northeast Atlantic,
Mediterranean or Black Sea with:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the name of the <a href="http://www.fao.org/cwp-on-fishery-statistics/handbook" rel="noreferrer">FAO sub-area or division</a></p>
</li>
<li><p>a map or pictogram of the catch area</p>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
