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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(77)334
Vol.1977/0112

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(77)334 final
Brussels-18July1977
Proposalfora
COUNCILREGULATION (EEC)
amendingCouncilRegulation (EEC)No2772/72on
marketingstandardsforeggs
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission )
C0M(77)334final

EXPLANATCRY MEMORANDUM
Proposed forCouncil Regulation (EEC)Ho /77
amending Council Regulation (EEC)So2772/75on
marketing standards foreggs
InRegulation (EEC)No1619/68of15October 1968 (consolidated' (EEC)No2772/75)»
theCounoil laid down marketing standards foreggs inphell .
Prom 19o8 to1976 »theCommission andtheMember States adopted themeasures re­
quired forcompliance with these standards under thebest conditions .On1JuAe
1977 there were 18,000 approved packing centres intheCommunity .
Theconditions forimplementing themeasures adopted havebeen afrpquent subject
ofdiscussion t *
-with national delegations intheManagement Committee forEggs andPoultry ,
-with thepersons responsible forMember States inspection departments ;
-with theprofessional bodies concerned .
Prom theinformation thus collected itappears that certain amendments could
bemade toRegulation (EEC)No2772/75without calling into question itsprincipal
aims :toimprove thequality ofeggs forconsumption andtofacilitate trade in
this product . ,
*
« *
Article 5(l)»2nd subparagraph –Record ofsuppliers
«
Atpresent eaoh packing centre isrequired tokeep anup-to-date record ofits
suppliers .
This provision wasadopted tofacilitate thetask ofinspectors ,whointhefi^st
years ofimplementation oftheRegulation hadtokeep aclose eyeontheactivity
ofmarkets selling tqwholesalers andtheintervals atwhich eggs were collected .

• -2-
*
ftbwthat inspection cfthedistribution networks isonanorganized basis ,itia
nolonger essential tokeep suoh alist andthesubparagraph inquestion canbe
deleted .
¥
Article 16-Large packs ^
i
Forseveral years now ^crates andcontainers ofvarious kinds which arelight and
easily maintained andimprove the conditions forthecollection ofeggs andtheir
';rea+m^nt inpacking centres hava bten used eThis isadesirable development which
has inparticular facilitated reoperation ofthe eggs handled .
Ifthese containers axensed forraarketing eggs graded byquality andweight ,they
become 1 packs andconsequently faiuJi bssealed andlabelled .
^owsverp thewidespread u.38 ofsuch containers forthetransportation anddistri­
bution ofsmall packs Should betaken into considei*ation asthelatter donot
necessarily have tobeplaced inlarge pacts .
rticle 1?(2)–Marking oftheweek number i
'"h.erules provide that the "band orlabel istobear inclearly v?sidle andlegible
black type thepacking week number orthedate ofpacking .
Each year thenumbering iscontinuous from 1to52or53*which means that asingle –
rigit ortwo-£:' :;itnumber isplaced onthepacks .Ifthenumber isbadly printed' or
"Haclly placed ,confusion canarise which maymislead theconsumer . ^
Toavoid this ,itisproposed that thenumber oftheweek should befollowed by
anoblique stroke andthe last twodigits ofthenumber ofthecurrent year .
Rirther ,thefreedom tousetheweek number from theThursday oftheprevious
week tofacilitate packing andwholesale marketing frequently leads toabuse .

fé'«
\
-3-
Thereforetherulesshould "beamendedsothattheretailsalebeforeMonday
morningofpacksthusmarkedisnotauthorized.
Article17(3)
Article18(2)–Timeallowedforpacking
Therulesguaranteethefreshnessofeggstotheconsumeronlyifthetime
allowedforcollectionandmarkingisrespected *
Itisinparticularessentialthatthedateofpackingorthepackingweek
numberareplacedonpackscontainingGradeAeggs(fresheggs)notlaterthan
theworkingdayfollowingthedayofreceptionoftheeggsbythepackingcentre.
However,sometimespublicholidaysfallonaFridayoraMondayandthelarger
collections onthefollowingMondayorTuesdayexceedthesortingandpacking
capacityofsomecentres.
Itisproposedthatinsuchcasesanadditionalworkingdayshouldbeallowed.
Article18(l)(a)-Trademarks
Smallpacksmustshowthename,businessnameandaddressoftheundertaking
whichhaspackedtheeggsorhadthanpacked.Theuseofthefirmstrademark
isoptional.
In1972,theCouncilconsidered(RegulationNo1348/72)that"certaintrademarks
includeinformation concerningpackedeggswhichisincompatible withtheaims
ofthestandardsintendedtoensureuniformcompetitiveconditions",andlaid
downthatthetrademarkcouldbeusedifitcontainednowordingrelatingtothe
qualityorfreshnessoftheeggswhichwasincompatiblewithRegulationNo1619/68
(consolidated.No.2772/75)*
Theuseofcertaintrademarkshascreatednewdifficulties ,duetothewide­
spreadcommercialexploitation ofreferencstonational'origininthewording
ofthetrademarks.Thereisadangerofareturntonationalqualitydistinctions ,

-4-
-whereas eggcomvmers expect uniform protection andwould like there tobeno
division ofthemarket "bydifferent national rules andregulations .
Itisproposed that national origin should notbeincluded inthetrade mark
■•"hatmaybeplaced onsmall packs ofeggs .
Article 20(l)–Sale ofeggs without packing
Intheretail trade ,egge without packing must bepresented separately according
quality andweight grading ,but thebuyer isnotinformed ofthedate of
inwholesale packs .Itisproposed that this date orthepacking week
'r.-(umbe.T should beindicated .Ineases whez3 only thepacking week number ismen–
'tionei ,provision ismad® forposting thelist ofweek numbers inthesales outlet .
Article 21–Additional information
^lytheinformation specified inthaRegulation maybeplaced oneggpacks .A
oadinterpretation ofthe toxt has ledcertain oparstors toplace information
::itheorigin andquality oftheegga within thepacks ,which isagainst the
spirit oftheRegulation .Therestriction should therefore beextended tothe
pedc and its contents .
However ,certain national instruments require theselling price tobeplaced on
pecks andthis additional information should beauthorized .
Article 23(c)(dd)–Indication oftheweight
Eggs from non-member countries must bepresented inpacks onwhich ismarked the
weight inkilograms ofthepacked eggs .
Certain operators have pointed outthat contracts relate tonetweight inkilo­
grams .
Although thepresent wording seems clear there -isnoobjection toinserting the
word wnetwtoavoid anymisunderstanding .

Proposalfor
COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No/ll
amendingRegulation(EEC)No2772/75
onmarketingstandardsforeggs
1HECOUNCILOPTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomicCommunity,
HavingregardtoCouncilRegulation(EEC)No2771/75of29October1975on"the
conrnonorganizationofthemarketineggsasamendedbyRegulation(EEC)
No368/76^,andinpartioularArticle2(2)thereof,
WhereasCouncilRegulation(EEC)No2772/75of29October1975^laiddown
marketingstandardsforeggs;
Whereasexperiencegainedsincetheentryintoforceofthemarketingstandards
hasshownthatitisnolongernecessarytorequireeachpackingcentretokeep
anup-to-daterecordofitssuppliers;
Whereastheuseofcratesorsimilarunsealed,reusablecontainersforthetrans­
portandmarketingofeggshasbecomewidespreadinrecentyears;whereassuch
cratesorothercontainersshouldthereforebetreatedaslargepacksexcept
whentheyareusedtotransportsmallpacks;
r
Whereas,inordertomakeiteasierfortheconsumertoreadthepacking
weeknumber,additionsshouldbemadetotherelevantprovisionsofthesaid
Regulation;whereaspareticular careshouldbetakentoensure
thatthemarking,whichisauthorizedfromThursdayofthepreviousweek,does
notgiverisetoconfusionatthetimeofthesaletotheconsumer;whereas,howev„
anadditionaldayshouldbeallowedformarkingwhereaMonday_oraFriday
10JNoL282,1.11.1975,p.49
20JNoL45,21.2.1976,p.2
3ojNoL282,l.H.1975,p.56

isapublic holiday ,since toogreat aquantity ofeggsmayhave
accumulated onthenon-working days tobepacked inasingle day;
Whereas theuse on"small packs oftrade marks referring tothenational origin
oftheeggs maybeexploited insuch away astocreate confusion between such
origin andtheguarantees provided bytherules ;whereas ,therefore ,thetrade
mark should bear noreference tothenational origin ;
Whereas ,inretail trade ,consumers maybuyunpacked eggs without knowing the
date when they were packed bythewholesale trade ;•whereas theconditions ofsal
beimproved ifconsumers were given this information bymeans ofacode which
they could understand ;
Whereas theinformation that maybeplaced oneggpacks should .assist trade _„
intheCommunity ;whereas ,further ,-theinformation provided forinRegulation
(SEC)No2772/75issufficent forconsumers ;whereas ,apart from theselling
pr?.ce ,anyadditional information onorinthepacks maydeceive thepurchaser ;
whereas ,therefore ,such information should notbeauthorized ;
Whereas import contracts foreggs from non-member countries refer toquantities
expressed inkilograms ofnetweight ;whereas provision should bemade forthe
weight onlarge packs tobeexpressed inthesame way;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION s
Article 1
lhesecond subparagraph ofArticle 5(l)ofRegulation (EEC)Bo2772/75is
hereby repealed .
Article 2
Article 16ofRegulation (EEC)No2772/75isamended toread asfollows :

-3-
"1*Fbrthepurposes ofthis Regulation ,"large packs "means packs which contain
more than 30eggs and"small packs "those which contain 30eggs orless *
2*However ,crates andother unsealed reusable containers containing small packs
shall notberegarded aslarge packs *"
Article 3
Article' 17(2)(3 )ofRegulation (EEC)No2772/75isreplaced bythefollowing
paragraphs 2to58
"2*Thenumber referred toinparagraph 1(e)shall indicate thecomplete week
'beginning onMonday *Every year thenumbering shall becontinuous andshall
consist ofanumber from 1to5?or53»followed byanoblique stroke and
thelast twodigits ofthecurrent year*' Theweek which includes 1January
shall bear the number 1*
3*Every year ,before 1October ,thelist ofweek numbers tobeused during thefolic ing
year shall bepublished intheOfficial Journal oftheEuropean Communities .
/
4*Theweek number maybeused :
–from midnight ontheWednesday oftheprevious week forpacking operations ;
–from midnight ontheThursday oftheprevious week fortransport operations
andinthewholesale trade ;
–from midnight ontheSunday immediately preceding theweek corresponding
totheweek number inthe retail trade . v
5*Anindication ofthepacking date ortheweek number shall beplaced on
large packs containing Grade Aeggs atthelatest ontheworking dayfollowing
thedayonwhich theeggs arereceived at-thepacking centre .
However ,anadditional working dayshall beallowed when aMonday ora
Friday isapublic holiday "*

Article4
ArticleI8(l)(a)ofRegulation (EEC)No2772/75,isamendedtoreadasfollows
w(a)thename,businessnameandaddressoftheundertakingwhichhaspacked
theeggsorforwhichtheyhave"beenpackedjthetrademarkusedbythat
undertaking maybeshownifitcontainsnoindicationofthenational .
6riginnoranywordingrelatingtothequalityorfreshnessoftheeggs-
whichisincompatible withthisRegulation;"
Article 18(2 )ofRegulation (EEC)NO2772/75amendedtoreadasfollows S
K2.Anindicationofthepackingdateortheweeknumbershallbeplacedon
smallpackscontainingGradeAeggsatthelatestontheworkingday
followingthedayonwhichtheeggsarereceivedatthepackingcentre.
However,anadditionalworkingdayshallbeallowedwhenaMondayora
flridayisapublicholiday".
Article5
Article*20(l)ofRegulation (EEC)No2772/75ISamendedtoreadasfollows:
wl.Eggsdisplayedforsaleorofferedforsaleintheretailtradeshall
bepresentedseparatelyaccordingtotheinformation onthepackaging
fromwhichtheywereremoved.
Thefollowinginformationshallbeclearlyvisibletotheconsumer:
–thequalitygrading,
–theweightgrading,
–thepackingdateorpackingweeknumberofthebatchofferedforsale.
Whereonlytheweeknumberisgiven,thelistofweeknumberstobeusi
Iduringtheyearshallbedisplayedinthesalesoutlet;
–whenrefrigerated orpreservedeggsareonsale,thefactthatthey
arerefrigerated orthemethodofpreservation." j

Article6
Article21ofRegulation(EEC)Ho2772/75isamendedtoreadasfollows:
"Packsshallnotbearorcontaininanyformindicationsotherthanthoselaid
downinthisRegulation.
Nevertheless,thesellingpricemaybeshowntotheextentrequiredbythe
relevantnationallegislation."
Article7
InArticle23(c)(dd)ofRegulation(EEC)No2772/75»'thewords"weightinkilo­
grammes"shallread"netweightinkilograms".-
Article8
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceon
ThisRegulationshallhebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicableinall
MemberStates.
DoneatBrussels. FortheCouncil