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"B COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 577/97
of 1 April 1997
laying down certain detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 laying down
standards for spreadable fats and of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 on the protection of
designations used in the marketing of milk and milk products
(OJ L 87, 2.4.1997, p. 3)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1278/97 of 2 July 1997 L 175 6 3.7.1997
"M2 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2181/97 of 3 November 1997 L 299 1 4.11.1997
"M3 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1298/98 of 23 June 1998 L 180 5 24.6.19981997R0577 — EN — 24.06.1998 — 003.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 577/97
of 1 April 1997
laying down certain detailed rules for the application of Council
Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 laying down standards for spreadable fatsand of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 on the protection of
designations used in the marketing of milk and milk products
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 of 5 December 1994
laying down standards for spreadable fats (
1), and in particular Article 8
thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 of 2 July 1987 on the
protection of designations used in the marketing of milk and milk products (2),
as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, andin particular Article 4 (2) thereof,
Whereas Article 2 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 provides that the sales
descriptions of the products referred to in Article 1 thereof must be thoseindicated in the Annex thereto; whereas there are exceptions to that rule;whereas the rule does not apply in particular to designations where the exact
nature of the product is clear from traditional usage and/or where the
designation is clearly used to describe a characteristic quality of the product;whereas certain detailed rules should be laid down for the application of that
provision;
Whereas Article 1 (3) of Regulation (EC) No 2991/94, which stipulates that
that Regulation is to be applied without prejudice in particular to Regulation(EEC) No 1898/87, must be complied with; whereas the aim of the two
Regulations is essentially the same, namely to avoid any confusion in the
mind of the consumer as to the true nature to the products in question;whereas, therefore, in order to ensure the consistency of Communitylegislation, the detailed rules for applying Regulations (EC) No 2991/94
and (EEC) No 1898/87 regarding the use of the designation ‘butter’ should be
laid down in a single text;
Whereas, in order to identify clearly the scope of the derogations referred to
in Regulation (EC) No 2991/94, an exhaustive list of the designations
concerned should be drawn up, together with a description of the products towhich they refer;
Whereas the first criterion of the derogation provided for in the first indent of
the third subparagraph of Article 2 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 relates
to the traditional character of a designation; whereas such traditionalcharacter may be considered proven where the designation has been used for aperiod preceding the date of entry into force of this Regulation at least equal
to the duration usually attributed to a human generation; whereas the
derogation must be limited to those products for which the designation hasactually been used so that such traditional character is not lost;
Whereas the second criterion of the abovementioned derogation relates to the
use of the designations in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 todescribe a characteristic feature of the marketed products; whereas in thiscase the exception relates logically to products which are not listed as such in
that Annex;
Whereas that derogation should be restricted to products currently marketed;
whereas the Member States have forwarded to the Commission the list ofproducts which they consider to meet the criteria of that derogation within
their territory;
Whereas Commission Decision 88/566/EEC of 28 October 1988 listing the
products referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 3 (1) of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 (
3) already contains exceptions with regard to
the designation ‘butter’; whereas account should be taken of them;!B
(1) OJ No L 316, 9. 12. 1994, p. 2.
(2) OJ No L 182, 3. 7. 1987, p. 36.
(3) OJ No L 310, 16. 11. 1988, p. 32.1997R0577 — EN — 24.06.1998 — 003.001 — 2
Whereas, in the Community list provided for in Regulation (EC) No 2991/94,
the designations of the products in question should be listed only in theCommunity language in which those designations may be used;
Whereas the designations on the labelling of foodstuffs containing products as
defined in the Annex to that Regulation or concentrated products as definedin the second indent of the third subparagraph of Article 2 (2) may refer to the
corresponding designations given in that Annex, provided that Council
Directive 79/112/EEC of 18 December 1978 on the approximation of the lawsof the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of
foodstuffs (
1), as last amended by Directive 97/4/EC (2), is complied with;
whereas there is therefore no need for the list of the abovementionedexceptions to mention such foodstuffs;
Whereas, in view of present technical conditions, any obligation to indicate
the exact fat content without any tolerance would involve considerablepractical difficulties; whereas, therefore, certain special rules should be laid
down in that regard;
Whereas Regulations (EC) No 2991/94 and (EEC) No 1898/87 cover
composite products of which an essential part is butter; whereas, therefore,those products should be dealt with consistently, whilst adhering to theapproach employed in Article 2 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87;
whereas the scope of the abovementioned Article 2 (3) should therefore be
defined more clearly with regard to composite products of which an essentialpart is butter, by laying down an objective criterion for determining whetheran essential part of the composite products is actually butter and whether the
designation ‘butter’ is therefore justified; whereas a minimum milk-fat
content of 75 % in the final product seems to be the most appropriatecriterion;
Whereas provision should nevertheless be made for a special procedure
allowing the Member States and the Commission to assess, on application by
the parties concerned, whether for technical and/or organoleptic reasons, in
the case of a product of which an essential part is butter, the minimum fatcontent of the final product must be lower than 75 % and to authorize the useof the designation ‘butter’ in that case;
Whereas the introduction of the rules for applying Article 2 (3) of Regulation
(EEC) No 1898/87 to composite products of which an essential part is butter
calls for certain transitional provisions to allow operators a certain period inwhich to adapt to the rules;
Whereas the second subparagraph of Article 2 (2) of Regulation (EC) No
2991/94 provides that the sales descriptions listed in the Annex thereto are tobe reserved for products which meet the criteria set out in that Annex;
therefore, trade marks which employ those designations may continue to be
used in the future solely for products which meet those criteria;
Whereas actual market conditions will show whether or not it will be
appropriate to lay down measures at a later date with regard to compositeproducts of which the main ingredient is margarine or composite fats;
Whereas the management committees concerned have not delivered an
opinion within the time limit laid down by their chairmen,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. The list of products covered by the derogation provided for in the first
indent of the third subparagraph of Article 2 (2) of Regulation (EC) No
2991/94 shall be as shown in the Annex hereto.
2. The designations listed in the Annex to Decision 88/566/EEC which
contain the world ‘butter’ in one of the Community languages shall not beaffected by this Regulation.!B
(1) OJ No L 33, 8. 2. 1979, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 43, 14. 2. 1997, p. 21.1997R0577 — EN — 24.06.1998 — 003.001 — 3
Article 2
1. The indication of the fat content as provided for in Article 3 (1) (b) of
Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 shall comply with the following rules:
(a) the average fat content shall be declared without the use of decimals;(b) the fat content of an individual sample may not differ by more than one
percentage point from the percentage declared;
(c) in all cases, individual samples must comply with the limits laid down in
the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2991/94.
2. Notwithstanding points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1, the minimum fat
content declared in respect of the
"M1products referred in Parts A (1), B
(1) and C (1) of the Annex 3to Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 shall
correspond to the minimum fat content of the product.
3. The procedure to be applied as from "M31 January 1999 3to verify
compliance with paragraph 1 shall be as set out in Annex II.
Article 3
The designation ‘butter’ may be used only for composite products of which an
essential part within the meaning of Article 2 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No1898/87 is butter if the end product contains at least 75 % milk fat and has
been manufactured solely from butter within the meaning of Part A (1) of the
Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 and the other added ingredient(s)mentioned in the description.
Article 4
1. Any manufacturer may submit a reasoned request to the competent
authorities of the Member State in which he has his registered office with aview to obtaining authorization to use the designation ‘butter’ for a composite
product of which an essential part is butter but of which the milk-fat content
does not comply with the minimum laid down in Article 3 for technical and/ororganoleptic reasons.
The Member State shall consider such requests and forward them to the
Commission, together with the documents on which it has based its decision,where it deems that the requirements set out in the first subparagraph are met.
2. Notwithstanding the procedure set out in the first subparagraph of
paragraph 1, Member States may, in the six months following the entry into
force of this Regulation and of their own initiative, forward requests to the
Commission together with the documents upon which they have based theiropinion that the requirements set out in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1are met, in order to obtain the authorization mentioned in that subparagraph.
Such requests may only be presented in respect of products being marketed in
the requesting Member State at the date of the entry into force of thisRegulation.
3. The Commission shall, as soon as possible, consider requests as referred
to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and shall decide, in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 30 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 (
1), whether
they may be accepted. The Commission may take any steps necessary toobtain information on the technical aspects of the requests. The Commission’ sdecision to grant authorization shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities .
4. Authorizations as provided for in paragraph 3 shall also be valid for the
same products produced by other manufacturers.!B
(1) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 13.!M2
!B1997R0577 — EN — 24.06.1998 — 003.001 — 4
Article 5
Composite products using the designation ‘butter’ in accordance with Article
2 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 and marketed at the time of entry into
force of this Regulation which do not comply with the provisions of Articles 3
and 4 of this Regulation may continue to be marketed using the designation‘butter’ for two years following the date of the latter’s entry into force.
Article 5a
Where a trade mark registered in Austria, Finland or Sweden prior to 1
January 1995 and using the sales description ‘butter’ referred to in Part A (1)
of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 was applied prior to that date toproducts not complying with Part A (1) of the Annex, it may continue to beapplied to such products for a transitional period of 10 years from the
abovementioned date.
Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
However, Article 2 shall apply at the same time as the method provided for in
paragraph 3 thereof.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all
Member States.!B
!M1
!B1997R0577 — EN — 24.06.1998 — 003.001 — 5
ANNEX "M2I3
I. (Spanish) ‘Mantequilla de Soria’ or ‘Mantequilla de Soria dulce’, ‘Mantequilla de Soria azucarada’: for a
sweetened aromatized milk product with a minimum milk-fat content of 39 %
II. (Danish)
III. (German) — ‘Butterkäse’: for cow’ s milk cheese which has a semi-soft, fatty consistency and a minimum
milk-fat content in the dry matter of 45 %
— ‘Kräuterbutter’: for a butter-based preparation containing herbs and a minimum milk-fat content
of 62 %
— ‘Milchmargarine’: for margarine containing at least 5 % whole milk, skimmed milk or other
suitable milk products
IV . (Greek)
V. (English) — ‘Brandy butter’, ‘Sherry butter’ or ‘Rum butter’: for a sweetened, alcoholic product with a
minimum milk-fat content of 34 %
— ‘Buttercream’: for a sweetened product with a minimum milk-fat content of 22,5 %
VI. (French) ‘Beurre d’anchois, de crevettes, de langouste, de homard, de crabe, de langoustine, de saumon, de
saumon fumé, de coquille Saint-Jacques, de sardine’: for products containing sea foods and aminimum milk-fat content of 10 %
VII. (Italian)
VIII. (Dutch)
IX. (Portuguese)
X. (Finnish) ‘Munavoi’: for a product containing eggs and a minimum milk-fat content of 35 %
XI. (Swedish) — ‘flytande margarin’: for a product of a liquid consistency containing at least 80 % vegetable fats
such as margarine yet whose composition is such that the product is not spreadable
— ‘messmör’: for a whey-based milk product, whether or not sweetened, of a minimum milk-fat
content of 2 %
— ‘vitlökssmör’, ‘persiljesmör’ or ‘pepparrotssmör’: for a product containing foodstuffs having a
flavouring effect and of a minimum milk-fat content of 66 %!
B1997R0577 — EN — 24.06.1998 — 003.001 — 6
ANNEX II
Verification of the declared fat content of spreadable fats
Five samples are to be taken randomly from the batch to be checked and analysed. The
following two procedures are applied:
A. The arithmetic mean of the five results obtained is compared with the declared fat
content. The declared fat content is deemed to comply where the arithmetic mean
fat content does not differ by more than 0,5 percentage points from the declared fat
content.
B. The five individual results are compared with the tolerance (2 %) shown in Article
2 (1) (b).
If the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the five
individual results is less than or equal to 2 %, the requirements of Article 2 (1) (b)
are deemed to be met.
Where compliance with the conditions set out under A and B is established, the batch
being checked is deemed to comply with the requirements of Article 2 (1) (a) to (c),even where, under the combined test procedure, one of the five values falls outside thetolerance range of ± 1 %.!
M21997R0577 — EN — 24.06.1998 — 003.001 — 7