Commission Regulation (EC) No 223/2003
of 5 February 2003
on labelling requirements related to the organic production method for feedingstuffs, compound feedingstuffs and feed materials and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs(1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 473/2002(2), and in particular Article 1(3) and the second indent of Article 13 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Under Article 1(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 a Regulation must be adopted providing for labelling requirements as well as inspection requirements and precautionary measures for feedingstuffs, compound feedingstuffs and feed materials, as far as these requirements are related to the organic production method.
(2) The petfood market and the market in feed for fur animals are separate from the market in feedingstuffs for other farmed livestock. Moreover, the labelling, production and inspection rules provided for in Articles 5, 6, 8 and 9 respectively of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 do not apply to aquaculture animals or aquaculture products. This Regulation should therefore apply only to feedingstuffs for organically-reared livestock, excluding petfood, feed for fur animals and feed for aquaculture animals.
(3) The specific measures on labelling feedingstuffs for organically-reared livestock must allow producers to identify feed that may be used in accordance with the provisions on the organic production method. The indication referring to the organic production method should not be presented in a way that draws more attention to it than to the description or the name of the feedingstuff referred to respectively in Council Directive 79/373/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs(3), as last amended by Directive 2002/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(4), and in Council Directive 96/25/EC of 29 April 1996 on the circulation and use of feed materials, amending Directives 70/524/EEC, 74/63/EEC, 82/471/EEC and 93/74/EEC and repealing Directive 77/101/EEC(5), as last amended by Directive 2001/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(6).
(4) The percentage of organically-produced feed materials, the percentage of in-conversion products and the total percentage of feedingstuffs of agricultural origin should moreover be indicated by weight of dry matter so that producers may comply with the daily rationing rules laid down in Part B of Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91. Part B of Annex I to that Regulation should therefore be amended also.
(5) A number of trade marks of products intended for animal feed which do not meet the requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 carry indications which may be considered by operators to be a reference to the organic production method. Provision should be made for a transitional period to allow holders of those trade marks to adapt to the new rules. However, this transitional period should be granted only to trade marks bearing the above indications where an application for registration was made before the publication of Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999 of 19 July 1999 supplementing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 to include livestock production(7), and where the operator has been duly informed of the fact that the products have not been produced by the organic production method.
(6) The minimum inspection requirements and precautionary measures applicable to units preparing feedingstuffs require the implementation of special measures, which should be incorporated into Annex III to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91.
(7) The principle of separating all equipment used in units preparing organic compound feedingstuffs from equipment used in the same unit for conventional compound feedingstuffs is considered to be an effective means of preventing the presence of products and substances not allowed by the organic production method. That principle should hence be incorporated as a provision into Annex III to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91. The immediate implementation of that provision however is assumed to have an important economic impact on the compound feedingstuffs industry in several Member States and consequently on the organic farming sector. For that reason, and in order to allow the organic sector to adapt to the new requirements of separated production lines, a possibility of derogation to this provision should be foreseen for a period of five years. Moreover, this issue has to be re-examined thoroughly in the near future on the basis of further information and experience gained.
(8) Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 should therefore be amended.
(9) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
This Regulation shall apply to the feedingstuffs, compound feed and feed materials referred to in Article 1(1)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91, where these products carry or are intended to carry references to the organic production method. This Regulation shall not apply to pet foods, feed for fur animals or feed for aquaculture animals.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Regulation, the definitions laid down in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 shall apply.
In addition:
1. "feed materials from the organic production method" shall mean organically-produced feed materials or prepared from such materials,
2. "feed materials from products in conversion to organic farming" shall mean in-conversion feed materials or products prepared from such materials.
Article 3
1. The labelling, advertising and commercial documentation relating to the products referred to in Article 1 may refer to organic production methods only where:
(a) the products have been produced, prepared or imported by an operator who is subject to the inspection measures laid down in Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91;
(b) the products and the materials of which they are composed and any other substance used in the preparation of those products have not been subjected to treatments involving the use of ionising radiation;
(c) the conditions referred to in points 4.12, 4.13, 4.14, 4.16, 4.17 and 4.18 of Part B of Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 are met as required;
(d) feed materials from the organic production method do not enter simultaneously with the same feed materials produced by conventional means into the composition of the product;
(e) feed materials from products in conversion to organic farming do not enter simultaneously with the same feed materials produced by conventional means into the composition of the product.
2. Without prejudice to Articles 4 and 5, the reference to the organic production method referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made solely by the following indication:
(a) "organically-produced", where at least 95 % of the product's dry matter is comprised of organically-produced feed material(s);
(b) "may be used in organic production in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91" in the case of products comprising variable quantities of feed materials from the organic production method and/or feed materials from products in conversion to organic farming and/or conventional materials.
Article 4
1. The indication referred to in Article 3(2):
(a) must be separate from the wording referred to in Article 5 of Directive 79/373/EEC or in Article 5(1) of Directive 96/25/EC;
(b) must not be presented in a colour, format or character font that draws more attention to it than to the description or name of the animal feedingstuff referred to in Article 5(1)(a) of Directive 79/373/EEC or Article 5(1)(b) of Directive 96/25/EC respectively;
(c) must be accompanied, in the same field of vision, by an indication by weight of dry matter referring:
(i) to the percentage of feed material(s) from the organic production method,
(ii) to the percentage of feed material(s) from products in conversion to organic farming,
(iii) to the total percentage of animal feed of agricultural origin,
(d) must be accompanied by the name and/or the code number of the inspection body or authority to which the operator who carried out the final preparation is subject;
(e) must be accompanied by a list of names of feed materials from the organic production method;
(f) must be accompanied by a list of names of feed materials from products in conversion to organic farming.
2. The indication referred to in Article 3(2) may be also accompanied by a reference to the requirement to use the feedingstuffs in accordance with the rules laid down in Part B of Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on the composition of daily rations.
3. Member States shall decide on the name and/or code number for the inspection body or authority referred to in paragraph 1(d) and shall notify the Commission accordingly.
Article 5
The trade marks and sales descriptions bearing an indication referred to in Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 may be used only if at least 95 % of the product's dry matter is comprised of feed material from the organic production method.
Article 6
Notwithstanding Articles 3, 4 and 5, the trade marks bearing an indication referred to in Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 may still be used until 1 July 2006 in the labelling and advertising of the products referred to in Article 1 which do not comply with this Regulation if the following conditions are met.
(a) registration of the trade mark was applied for before 24 August 1999 and the trade mark is in conformity with Council Directive 89/104/EEC(8); and
(b) the trade mark is already reproduced with a clear, prominent, and easily readable indication that the products are not produced according to the organic production method as laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91.
Article 7
Part B of Annex I and Annex III to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 are amended in accordance with the Annex hereto.
Article 8
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 6 August 2003.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 5 February 2003.