2003R0223 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 1
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►B 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)
(OJ L 31, 6.2.2003, p. 3)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 746/2004 of 22 April 2004 L 122 10 26.4.2004
▼B
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 indicationsreferring 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 Regula-
tion must be adopted providing for labelling requirements aswell as inspection requirements and precautionary measures forfeedingstuffs, compound feedingstuffs and feed materials, as faras 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 live-stock. Moreover, the labelling, production and inspection rulesprovided for in Articles 5, 6, 8 and 9 respectively of Regulation
(EEC) No 2092/91 do not apply to aquaculture animals or aqua-
culture products. This Regulation should therefore apply only tofeedingstuffs 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 produc-tion method. The indication referring to the organic productionmethod should not be presented in a way that draws more atten-tion to it than to the description or the name of the feedingstuffreferred 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 Parlia-ment 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 Parliamentand of the Council (
6).
(4) The percentage of organically-produced feed materials, thepercentage of in-conversion products and the total percentage offeedingstuffs 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 Regula-tion (EEC) No 2092/91. Part B of Annex I to that Regulationshould 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 operatorsto be a reference to the organic production method. Provision2003R0223 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 198, 22.7.1991, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 75, 16.3.2002, p. 21.
(3) OJ L 86, 6.4.1979, p. 30.
(4) OJ L 63, 6.3.2002, p. 23.
(5) OJ L 125, 23.5.1996, p. 35.
(6) OJ L 234, 1.9.2001, p. 55.
▼B
should be made for a transitional period to allow holders of
those trade marks to adapt to the new rules. However, this tran-sitional 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 1804/1999of 19 July 1999 supplementing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 toinclude livestock production (
1), 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 theimplementation of special measures, which should be incorpo-rated into Annex III to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91.
(7) The principle of separating all equipment used in units preparingorganic 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 productsand substances not allowed by the organic production method.That principle should hence be incorporated as a provision intoAnnex III to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91. The immediateimplementation of that provision however is assumed to have
an important economic impact on the compound feedingstuffs
industry in several Member States and consequently on theorganic farming sector. For that reason, and in order to allowthe organic sector to adapt to the new requirements of separatedproduction 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 onthe 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 accordancewith the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 14 ofRegulation (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) No2092/91, where these products carry or are intended to carry referencesto 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 mate-rials,
2. ‘feed materials from products in conversion to organic farming’
shall mean in-conversion feed materials or products prepared fromsuch materials.2003R0223 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 3
(1) OJ L 222, 24.8.1999, p. 1.
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Article 3
1. The labelling, advertising and commercial documentation relating
to the products referred to in Article 1 may refer to organic productionmethods only where:
(a) the products have been produced, prepared or imported by an
operator who is subject to the inspection measures laid down inArticles 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 notbeen 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 metas required;
(d) feed materials from the organic production method do not enter
simultaneously with the same feed materials produced by conven-tional 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 variablequantities of feed materials from the organic production methodand/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 theanimal 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 produc-
tion method,
(ii) to the percentage of feed material(s) from products in conver-
sion 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 outthe 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 accompa-
nied by a reference to the requirement to use the feedingstuffs inaccordance 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 shallnotify the Commission accordingly.2003R0223 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 4
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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 indica-
tion referred to in Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 may stillbe used until 1 July 2006 in the labelling and advertising of theproducts referred to in Article 1 which do not comply with this Regu-lation 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 (
1); and
(b) the trade mark is already reproduced with a clear, prominent, and
easily readable indication that the products are not producedaccording to the organic production method as laid down in Regu-
lation (EEC) No 2092/91.
For the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, the date of application referredto in point (a) of the first paragraph shall be 1 May 2004 at the latest.
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.2003R0223 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 5
(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989, p. 1.▼M1
▼B
▼B
ANNEX
1. The following sentence is added at the end of point 4.4 of Part B of Annex
I to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91:
‘These figures shall be expressed as a percentage of the dry matter of
feedingstuffs of agricultural origin.’
2. Annex III to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 is amended as follows.
2.1. The text of Point 2 of the General Provisions is replaced by the following:
‘the operators already in activity at the date mentioned in Article 2 of
Regulation (EC) No 2491/2001 shall also be subject to the provisions
referred to in point 3 and to the initial inspection provisions foreseen in
sections A, B, C, D and E of the specific provisions of this Annex.’
2.2. The text of Point 4 of the General Provisions is replaced by the following:
‘the operator responsible must notify any change in the description or of
the practical measures referred to in point 3 and in the initial inspection
provisions foreseen in sections A, B, C, D and E of the specific provisions
of this Annex to the inspection body or authority in due time.’
2.3. The following words are added after ‘Article 11’ in the first indent of the
third subparagraph of point 3 of the General Provisions:
‘and/or Regulation (EC) No 223/2003’
2.4. The following is added at the end of the second indent of point 6 of the
General Provisions:
‘and, where relevant, the composition of the compound feedingstuffs.’
2.5. Point 7(b) of the General Provisions is replaced by the following:
‘the name of the product or a description of the compound feedingstuff
accompanied by a reference to the organic production method in accor-
dance with, as applicable, Article 5 of this Regulation or Article 3 of
Regulation (EC) No 223/2003.’
2.6. The title of Part C of the Specific Provisions is replaced by the following:
‘C. Imports of plants, plant products, livestock, livestock products and
foodstuffs comprising plant and/or livestock products, animal feeding-
stuffs, compound feedingstuffs and feed materials from third
countries.’
2.7. The following part E is inserted:
‘E — UNITS PREPARING ANIMAL FEEDINGSTUFFS, COMPOUND
FEEDINGSTUFFS AND FEED MATERIALS
This section applies to any unit involved in the preparation, as defined in
Article 4 point 3 of products referred to in Article 1(1)(c) on its own
account or on behalf of a third party.
1.INITIAL INSPECTION
The full description of the unit referred to under point 3 of the General
Provisions of this Annex must:
— indicate the facilities used for the reception, preparation and storage
of the products intended for animal feed before and after the opera-
tions concerning them,
— indicate the facilities used for the storage of other products used to
prepare feedingstuffs,
— indicate the facilities used to store products for cleaning and disin-
fection,
— indicate, where necessary, the description of the compound feeding-
stuff that the operator intends to produce, in accordance with Article
5(1)(a) of Directive 79/373/EEC, and the livestock species or class
for which the compound feedingstuff is intended,
— indicate, where necessary, the name of the feed materials that the
operator intends to prepare.
The measures to be taken by operators, referred to in point 3 of the
General Provisions of this Annex, to guarantee compliance with this
Regulation must include:
— in particular an indication of the precautionary measures to be taken
in order to reduce the risk of contamination by unauthorised
substances or products, the cleaning measures implemented and the
monitoring of their effectiveness,2003R0223 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 6
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— identification of all elements of their activities crucial for guaran-
teeing at all times that the products referred to in Article 1(1)(c)
prepared in such units comply with this Regulation and with Regula-
tion (EC) No 223/2003,
— the establishment and implementation of, compliance with and
updating of appropriate procedures, based on the principles of the
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) system.
The inspection body or authority shall use these procedures to carry out a
general evaluation of the risks attendant on each preparation unit and to
draw up an inspection plan. This inspection plan must provide for a
minimum number of random samples depending on the potential risks.
2.Documentary accounts
For the purposes of proper inspection of the operations, the documentary
accounts referred to in point 6 of the General Provisions of this Annex
shall include information on the origin, nature and quantities of feed
materials, additives, sales and finished products.
3.Preparation units
When preparing products, operators must ensure that:(a) organically-produced feedingstuffs or feedingstuffs derived there-
from, in-conversion feedingstuffs or feedingstuffs derived therefrom,
and conventional feedingstuffs are effectively physically separated;
(b) all equipment used in units preparing compound feedingstuffs
covered by this Regulation is completely separated from equipment
used for compound feedingstuffs not covered by this Regulation.
Notwithstanding the provisions of point (b) of the first subparagraph,
until 31 December 2007, operations may take place using the same
equipment provided that:
— separation in terms of time is guaranteed and suitable cleaning
measures, the effectiveness of which has been checked, have been
carried out before commencing preparation of the products covered
by this Regulation; operators must record these operations,
— operators must ensure that all appropriate measures are implemented,
depending on the risks evaluated in accordance with point 1, and,
where necessary, guarantee that products which do not conform to
this Regulation cannot be placed on the market with an indication
referring to organic farming.
The derogation provided for in the second subparagraph is subject to
prior authorisation by the inspection body or authority. Such authorisa-
tion might be provided for one or more preparation operation(s).
The Commission will start to examine the provisions of point (b) of the
first subparagraph before 31 December 2003. Account being taken from
that examination, the date of 31 December 2007 may be revised if neces-
sary.
4.Inspection visits
In addition to the complete annual visit, the inspection body or authority
must make targeted visits based on a general evaluation of the potential
risks of non-compliance with this Regulation; the inspection body or
authority shall pay particular attention to the critical control points
pointed out for the operator, with a view to establishing whether the
surveillance and checking operations are carried out as they should be.
All the premises used by the operator for the conduct of his activities
may be inspected as frequently as the attendant risks warrant.
5.Transporting products to other production/preparation units or
storage premises
Operators must ensure that the following conditions are met:
(a) during transport, organically-produced feedingstuffs or feedingstuffs
derived therefrom, in-conversion feedingstuffs or feedingstuffs
derived therefrom, and conventional feedingstuffs must be effectively
physically separated;
(b)the vehicles and/or containers which have transported products that
are not covered by this Regulation may be used to transport products
covered by this Regulation if:
— suitable cleaning measures, the effectiveness of which has been
checked, have been carried out before commencing the transport of
products covered by this Regulation; operators must record these
operations,2003R0223 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 7
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— operators must ensure that all appropriate measures are implemented,
depending on the risks evaluated in accordance with point 1, and,
where necessary, guarantee that products which do not conform to
this Regulation cannot be placed on the market with an indication
referring to organic farming,
— the inspection body or authority of the operator has been informed of
such transport operations and has agreed thereto. Such agreement
might be provided for one or more transport operation(s);
(c) the finished products referred to in this Regulation are transported
separately from other finished products physically or in time;
(d)during transport, the quantity of products at the start and each indivi-
dual quantity delivered in the course of a delivery round must be
recorded.
6.Receipt of products
On receipt of a product referred to in Article 1, operators must check the
closure of the packaging or container where it is required and the
presence of the indications referred to in point 7 of the General Provi-
sions of this Annex. Operators must carry out a cross-check of the
information on the label referred to in point 7 of the General Provisions
against the information on the accompanying documents. The results of
this verification must be explicitly mentioned in the accounts referred to
in point 6 of the General Provisions.’2003R0223 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 8