# Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 665/2014Show full title

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 665/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European            Parliament and of the Council with regard to conditions of use of the optional quality term ‘mountain product’         

        - Previous
        - Next

U.K.

# Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 665/2014                     

# of 11 March 2014

# supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to conditions of use                        of the optional quality term ‘mountain product’                     

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality                           schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs(1), and in particular Article 31(3) and (4) thereof,                        

Whereas:

(1)Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 has established a scheme for optional quality terms in order to facilitate the communication                              within the internal market of the value-adding characteristics or attributes of agricultural products by the producers thereof.                              It has established conditions of use of the optional quality term ‘mountain product’ and empowers the Commission to adopt                              delegated acts laying down derogations from those conditions of use in duly justified cases and in order to take into account                              natural constraints affecting agricultural production in mountain areas. That Regulation also empowers the Commission to adopt                              delegated acts concerning the establishment of the methods of production and other criteria relevant for the application of                              that term.

(2)In order to prevent consumers being misled, the use of the term ‘mountain product’ for products of animal origin should be                              clarified. For products produced by animals, such as milk and eggs, production should take place in mountain areas. For products                              made from animals, such as meat, the animals should be raised in mountain areas. As farmers often buy young animals, such                              animals should spend at least the last two thirds of their life in mountain areas.

(3)Transhumance, including transhumance between pastures in mountain and non-mountain areas, is practised in many areas of the                              Union to take advantage of the seasonal availability of grazing. It ensures the preservation of higher altitude pastures that                              are not suited for all-year grazing and of traditional man-made landscapes in mountain areas. Transhumance also has direct                              environmental benefits, for example reducing the risk of erosion and avalanches. In order to encourage the continued practice                              of transhumance, it should therefore also be allowed to apply the term ‘mountain product’ to products made from transhumant                              animals which spend at least a quarter of their lifetime on pastures in mountain areas.

(4)In order to ensure that feedstuffs for farm animals come essentially from mountain areas, it should be clarified that, in                              principle, at least half of their annual animal diet, expressed as a percentage of dry matter, should consist of feedstuffs                              coming from mountain areas.

(5)As available feedstuffs for ruminants in mountain areas represent more than half of their annual diet, this percentage should                              be higher in their case.

(6)Because of natural constraints and the fact that feedstuffs produced in mountain areas are primarily for ruminants, only a                              small proportion of feedstuffs for pigs is currently sourced in mountain areas. To strike the requisite balance between the                              dual objectives of the term ‘mountain product’, as set out in recital 45 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, ensure that pig                              production in mountain areas can continue and thus preserve the rural fabric, the proportion of pigs' feedstuffs that must                              come from such areas should be less than half of the animals' annual diet.

(7)Feedstuff restrictions should apply for transhumant animals as long as they are in mountain areas.

(8)As transhumance applies also to beehives, the application of the term ‘mountain product’ to products of beekeeping should                              be clarified. However, as sugar fed to bees does not normally come from mountain areas, feedstuff restrictions should not                              apply with regard to bees.

(9)In order to prevent consumers being misled, the term ‘mountain product’ should be used for products of plant origin only if                              the plants are grown in mountain areas.

(10)Processed products should be allowed to contain, as ingredients, raw materials such as sugar, salt or herbs that cannot be                              produced in mountain areas, provided that they do not represent more than 50 % of the total weight of the ingredients.

(11)In mountain areas in certain parts of the Union, there are insufficient facilities for producing milk and milk products from                              raw milk, slaughtering animals and cutting and deboning carcasses, and pressing olive oil. Natural constraints affect the                              availability of suitable processing facilities in mountain areas and make processing difficult and unviable. Processing elsewhere                              in the vicinity of mountain areas does not alter the nature of the products of such processing as regards their mountain provenance.                              It should therefore be allowed to apply the term ‘mountain product’ to such products when they are processed outside mountain                              areas. In view of the location of the processing facilities in certain Member States and the need to meet consumer expectations,                              the processing operations should take place within 30 km of the mountain area in question.

(12)In addition, in order to allow existing facilities for producing milk and milk products to continue their activity, only those                              in place on the date of entry into force of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 should be allowed to use the term ‘mountain product’.                              As the availability of such facilities in mountain areas varies, Member States should be authorised to impose a stricter distance                              requirement or eliminate this possibility altogether,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

## Article 1U.K.Products of animal origin

1.The term ‘mountain product’ may be applied to products produced by animals in mountain areas as defined in Article 31(2) of                        Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and processed in such areas.                  

2.The term ‘mountain product’ may be applied to products made from animals that are reared for at least the last two thirds                        of their life in those mountain areas, if the products are processed in such areas.                  

3.By way of derogation from paragraph 2, the term ‘mountain product’ may be applied to products made from transhumant animals                        that have been reared for at least one quarter of their life in transhumance grazing on pastures in mountain areas.                  

## Article 2U.K.Feedstuffs

1.For the purposes of Article 31(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, feedstuffs for farm animals shall be deemed to come                        essentially from mountain areas if the proportion of the annual animal diet that cannot be produced in mountain areas, expressed                        as a percentage of dry matter, does not exceed 50 % and, in the case of ruminants, 40 %.                  

2.By way of derogation from paragraph 1, as regards pigs, the proportion of feedstuffs that cannot be produced in mountain areas,                        expressed as a percentage of dry matter, shall not exceed 75 % of the annual animal diet.                  

3.Paragraph 1 shall not apply to feedstuffs for transhumant animals referred to in Article 1(3) when reared outside mountain                        areas.                  

## Article 3U.K.Products of beekeeping

1.The term ‘mountain product’ may be applied to products of beekeeping if the bees have collected the nectar and the pollen                        only in mountain areas.                  

2.By way of derogation from Article 31(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, sugar fed to bees shall not be required to come                        from mountain areas.                  

## Article 4U.K.Products of plant origin

By way of derogation from Article 31(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the term ‘mountain product’ may be applied to                     products of plant origin only if the plant is grown in mountain areas as defined in Article 31(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.                  

## Article 5U.K.Ingredients

When used in products referred to in Articles 1 and 4, the following ingredients may come from outside mountain areas, provided                     that they do not represent more than 50 % of the total weight of the ingredients:                  

products not listed in Annex I to the Treaty; and

herbs, spices and sugar.

## Article 6U.K.Processing operations outside mountain areas

1.By way of derogation from Article 31(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and Article 1(1) and (2) of this Regulation, the                        following processing operations may take place outside mountain areas, provided that the distance from the mountain area in                        question does not exceed 30 km:                  

(a)processing operations for the production of milk and milk products in processing facilities in place on 3 January 2013;                  

(b)slaughtering of animals and cutting and deboning of carcasses;                  

(c)pressing of olive oil.                  

2.As regards products processed on their territory, Member States may determine that the derogation in paragraph 1, point (a)                        will not apply or that the processing facilities must be located within a distance, to be specified, of less than 30 km from                        the mountain area in question.                  

## Article 7U.K.Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the *Official Journal of the European Union*.                  

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 11 March 2014.

*For the Commission*                            

*The President*                            

José Manuel Barroso                            

1

OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.