Bottled Drinking Water (Natural Mineral, Spring, Purified & Sparkling; PET 330 ml-1.5 L and 5-19 L Gallons)

Natural mineral, purified and sparkling water in PET 330 ml to 1.5 L and 5 to 19 L gallons, in the bottler's brand or private label

Bottled water is two different products under one shelf label. Natural mineral water is groundwater from a protected underground source, bottled at the source without disinfection; purified or bottled drinking water is treated water, produced by reverse osmosis, distillation or deionisation and often remineralised. The rules separate them. In the EU, Directive 2009/54/EC reserves "natural mineral water" for water recognised by the responsible authority, exploited with permission and bottled at source; the only treatments allowed are separation of unstable elements such as iron and sulphur compounds by filtration or decanting, treatment with ozone-enriched air, and removal of free carbon dioxide by physical methods, and the label names the spring and the place where it is exploited. Water from outside the EU can be recognised as natural mineral water only when the responsible authority of the country of extraction certifies that it meets Annex I of the Directive, and that certification is valid for five years. In the USA, the FDA's standard of identity for bottled water is 21 CFR 165.110: "mineral water" must contain at least 250 ppm total dissolved solids from a geologically and physically protected underground source with no minerals added, and "purified water" must be produced by distillation, deionisation, reverse osmosis or another suitable process and meet the United States Pharmacopeia definition. In the Gulf, GSO 1025:2014 is the standard for bottled drinking water and does not cover natural mineral water. Under the tariff, HS 2201.10 is mineral waters and aerated waters without added sugar or flavour, and HS 2201.90 is other still water. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2201.10 total USD 4.50 billion and about 10.9 million MT across 123 reporters: France USD 1.83 billion and 5.0 million MT, Italy USD 957 million and 1.87 million MT, Belgium USD 195 million, Mexico USD 179 million, Germany USD 106 million and 430,000 MT, the USA USD 60 million, the Netherlands USD 48 million, Spain USD 39 million, Poland and Austria USD 28 million each, Türkiye USD 26 million, Indonesia USD 22 million, and Malaysia and Saudi Arabia USD 11 million each. HS 2201.90 adds USD 1.31 billion, including the USA USD 106 million, France USD 88 million, Thailand USD 56 million, Türkiye USD 55 million and Malaysia USD 29 million. Those are declared export values, not offers.

Water is a heavy, low-value load, and that decides where it comes from. A 2017 study of the economics of water trade puts bottled water at USD 300-1,000 per tonne and finds that about 75% of the world's bottled water is produced and distributed regionally, so long-haul imports are mostly natural mineral waters sold on their source, and regional bottlers supply most purified water. The buyer is an importer-distributor, a wholesaler, a supermarket private-label desk, a hotel, airline or catering group, or a water delivery company buying gallons. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers bottled water from bottlers in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, Poland, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and the USA, in the bottler's own brand or the buyer's private label; for third-party brands, supply comes only from the brand owner or its authorised distributors, because parallel imports carry counterfeit, diversion and customs risks. Each lot carries the bottler's certificate of analysis against the destination standard, the origin authority's health certificate, a certificate of origin and, for natural mineral water, the recognition of the source. EU-bound PET bottles up to 3 litres need caps that stay attached under Directive (EU) 2019/904, which also sets 25% recycled plastic in PET beverage bottles from 2025; Gulf labels follow GSO 9 with Arabic text and production and expiry dates; and Saudi imports are registered with the SFDA by the importer before shipment. Shrink-wrapped packs of bottles or stacked gallons move palletised in 20-ft or 40-ft dry containers on EXW, FCA, FOB, CFR and CIF terms, and pallets per container and minimum runs are confirmed per product and pack. Send the water type, bottle size, pack, label and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.