Consumers in Armenia should be aware of food items marked as “organic” and “biologically pure”; for the most part such advertising may be misleading.

This is the conclusion of Armenia’s State Commission for the Protection of Economic Protection (SCPEC) which recently reprimanded 80 companies, out of 100 companies examined, for using the above terms in their brand names.

In a statement released today, the SCPEC notes that as of January 1, 2014, the terms “organic” , ecological” and “biological” ( and their shortened versions “eco” and “bio”) can only be used by agricultural producers and sellers of purely organic items. Otherwise, the use of such terms in the brand name is considered impermissible.

The SCPEC argues that consumers who see such wording in a brand name are mistakenly l;ed to believe that the company’s products are beneficial and have a qualitative advantage over similar products of other companies that do not use such wording.

The companies issued reprimands must change their packaging within a prescribed time limit or face the imposition of fines.

The SCPEC sdays that a list of the companies in violation of the law will appear on its website. (Most likely the list will be in Armenian only since the English version hasn't been updated for the past several months)

Only the State Food Safety Service (a division of the Ministry of Agriculture) has the right to certify what foods can be labelled as "organic".