COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 182/2009
of 6 March 2009
amending Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 on marketing standards for olive oil
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of
22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agri­cultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agri­cultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (
1), and in particular
Articles 113(1)(a) and 121(a) in conjunction with Article 4
thereof,
Whereas:
(1) It is desirable to clarify that the name under which olive
oils and olive-pomace oils are sold should be one of thedescriptions laid down by the common organisation ofagricultural markets. Supplementary information on each
of the categories of oil defined should also appear on the
labelling, but not necessarily close to the name underwhich the product is sold. For goods containing oliveoil, neither the labelling of the description, nor,therefore, of the supplementary information should berequired.
(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 (2) estab­
lished optional arrangements for the labelling of theorigin of olive oil although the aim was a systeminvolving the compulsory labelling of the origin forextra virgin and virgin olive oil, in order to reflect the
fact that, as a result of agricultural traditions and local
extraction and blending practices such oils may be ofquite different taste and quality depending on theirgeographical origin. Optional arrangements implementedsince then proved not to be sufficient to avoid consumermisleading as to the real characteristics of virgin oils tothis regard. In addition, since 2002, Regulation (EC) No178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 28 January 2002 laying down the general principlesand requirements of food law, establishing the EuropeanFood Safety Authority and laying down procedures inmatters of food safety (
3) established traceability rules,
applicable since 1 January 2005. The experience gainedby operators and administrations in this matter allowsmaking the labelling of the origin compulsory for extravirgin and virgin olive oil.(3) In the Community, a significant share of extra virgin andvirgin olive oils is composed of blends of oils originating
from various Member States and third countries. Simple
provisions should be laid down for the labelling of theorigin of such blends. Such simple rules make it possibledeleting the former provisions on labelling of a ‘predo­
minant origin ’, complex to implement, difficult to
control and potentially misleading.
(4) Certain terms describing the organoleptic characteristicsreferring to taste and/or smell of extra virgin and virginolive oils have been recently defined by the International
Olive Council (IOC) in its revised method for the orga­
noleptic assessment of virgin olive oils. The use of suchterms on the labelling of extra virgin and virgin olive oilsshould be reserved to oils that have been assessedfollowing the corresponding method of analysis. Tran­sitional arrangements are needed for certain operatorspresently using the reserved terms.
(5) Several Member States have maintained national regu­lations prohibiting the production of blends of olive oilwith other seed oils for internal consumption purposes
so as to preserve their traditions and a certain production
quality at national level. The provisions of Regulation(EC) No 1019/2002 do not apply to tuna and sardines,covered respectively by Council Regulation (EEC) No1536/92 of 9 June 1992 laying down commonmarketing standards for preserved tuna and bonito (
4)
and by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2136/89 of21 June 1989 laying down common marketingstandards for preserved sardines (
5). For reasons of
clarity, these aspects should be clearly mentioned inRegulation (EC) No 1019/2002.
(6) Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 should therefore beamended accordingly.
(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are inaccordance with the opinion of the ManagementCommittee for the Common Organisation of AgriculturalMarkets,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 is amended as follows:EN L 63/6 Official Journal of the European Union 7.3.2009
(1) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 155, 14.6.2002, p. 27.
(3) OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.(4) OJ L 163, 17.6.1992, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 212, 22.7.1989, p. 79.1. Article 1(1) is replaced by the following:
‘1. Without prejudice to Directive 2000/13/EC and
Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (*), this Regulationlays down specific standards for retail-stage marketing ofthe olive oils and olive-pomace oils referred to in points1(a) and (b), 3 and 6 of Annex XVI to Regulation (EC) No1234/2007.
___________
(*) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. ’;
2. Article 3 is amended as follows:
(a) the following paragraph is inserted before the first
paragraph:
‘Descriptions in accordance with Article 118 of Regu­
lation (EC) No 1234/2007 shall be considered as thename under which the product is sold as referred to inArticle 3(1)(1) of Directive 2000/13/EC. ’;
(b) in the first paragraph, which becomes the second
paragraph, the introductory words are replaced by thefollowing:
‘The labelling of oils as referred to in Article 1(1) shall
bear, in clear and indelible lettering, in addition to thedescription referred to in the first paragraph, but notnecessarily close to it, the following information onthe category of oil: ’;
3. Article 4 is amended as follows:
(a) in paragraph 1, the first subparagraph is replaced by the
following first and second subparagraphs:
‘Extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil as defined in
points 1(a) and (b) of Annex XVI to Regulation (EC) No1234/2007 shall bear a designation of origin on thelabelling.
Products defined in points 3 and 6 of Annex XVI to
Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 shall not bear any desig­nation of origin on the labelling. ’;
(b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
‘2. Designations of origin referred to in paragraph 1
shall only consist of:
(a) in the case of olive oils originating, in accordance
with the provisions of paragraphs 4 and 5, fromone Member State or third country, a reference tothe Member State, to the Community or to the thirdcountry, as appropriate; or,
(b) in the case of blends of olive oils originating, in
accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 4and 5, from more than one Member State or third
country, one of the following mentions, as appro­priate:
(i) “blend of Community olive oils ”or a reference
to the Community;
(ii) “blend of non-Community olive oils ”or a
reference to non-Community origin;
(iii) “blend of Community and non-Community olive
oils ”or a reference to Community and non-
Community origin; or
(c) a protected designation of origin or a protected
geographical indication referred to in Regulation(EC) No 510/2006, in accordance with theprovisions of the product specification concerned. ’;
(c) paragraph 6 is deleted;
4. Article 5 is amended as follows:
(a) Point (c) is replaced by the following:
‘(c) indications of organoleptic properties referring to
taste and/or smell may appear only for extra virginand virgin olive oils; the terms referred to inparagraph 3.3 of Annex XII to Regulation (EEC) No
2568/91 may appear on the labelling only if they are
based on the results of an assessment carried outfollowing the method provided for in Annex XII toRegulation (EEC) No 2568/91. ’
(b) The following second paragraph is added:
‘Products sold under trademarks whose registration was
applied for no later than 1 March 2008 and whichcontain at least one of the terms referred to inparagraph 3.3 of Annex XII to Regulation (EEC) No2568/91 may not comply with the requirements ofArticle 5(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 until1 November 2011. ’;
5. Article 6 is amended as follows:
(a) In paragraph 1, the following third subparagraph is
added:
‘Member States may prohibit the production in their
territory of blends of olive oil and other vegetable oilsreferred to in the first subparagraph for internalconsumption. However, they may not prohibit themarketing on their territory of such blends comingfrom other countries and they may not prohibit theproduction on their territory of such blends formarketing in another Member State or for exportation. ’EN 7.3.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 63/7(b) In paragraph 2, the first subparagraph is replaced by the
following:
‘With the exception of tuna in olive oil referred to in
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1536/92 (*) and sardines inolive oil referred to in Council Regulation (EEC) No2136/89 (**), where the presence of oils as referred toin Article 1(1) of this Regulation in a foodstuff, otherthan those referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, ishighlighted on the labelling elsewhere than in the list ofingredients, using words, images or graphics, the tradedescription of the foodstuff shall be directly followed bythe percentage of oils as referred to in Article 1(1) of thisRegulation relative to the total net weight of the
foodstuff.
___________
(*) OJ L 163, 17.6.1992, p. 1.
(**) OJ L 212, 22.7.1989, p. 79. ’
(c) Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
‘3. The descriptions referred to in the first paragraph
of Article 3 can be replaced by the words “olive oil ”on
the labelling of products referred to in paragraphs 1 and2 of this Article.
However, where olive-pomace oil is present, the words
“olive oil ”shall be replaced by the words “olive-pomace
oil ”.’
(d) The following paragraph 4 is added:‘4. The information referred to in the second
paragraph of Article 3 is not required on the labellingof products referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of thisArticle. ’;
6. point (b) of Article 8(2) is replaced by the following:
‘(b) an operators ’organisation in that Member State referred
to in Article 125 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007; ’;
7. the first subparagraph of Article 9(2) is replaced by the
following:
‘For the purpose of verifying indications as referred to in
Articles 4, 5 and 6, the Member States concerned mayintroduce arrangements for approving establishmentswhose packaging facilities are situated in their territory. ’
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Union .
It shall apply from 1 July 2009.By way of derogation from the second paragraph, products
which have been legally manufactured and labelled in theCommunity or legally imported into the Community and putinto free circulation before 1 July 2009 may be marketed untilall stocks are used up.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 6 March 2009.
For the Commission
Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the CommissionEN L 63/8 Official Journal of the European Union 7.3.2009