COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the Common Position of the Council on the Proposal for a Parliament and Council Directive amending Directive 79/373/EEC on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs and Directive 96/25/EC on the circulation of feed materials

1998/0238 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the

Common Position of the Council on the Proposal for a Parliament and Council Directive amending Directive 79/373/EEC on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs and Directive 96/25/EC on the circulation of feed materials

I. PROCEDURE

1. On 14 July 1998, the Commission submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council a proposal based on Article 152 of the EC Treaty (COM(1998)0435 final - 1998/0238 (COD)), amending the Directive 79/373/EEC on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs and Directive 96/25/EEC on the circulation of feed materials. [1]

[1] OJ C 261, 19/08/1998, p.003.

2. The European Parliament delivered a first opinion on the Commission proposal on 16 December 1998, and approved it without amendment. [2] The Economic and Social Committee delivered its opinion on 28 January 1999 [3] and the Committee of the Regions delivered its opinion on 15 September 1999 [4].

[2] OJ C 98, 9/04/1999, p.143.

[3] OJ C 101, 12/04/1999, p.089.

[4] the Committee of the Regions has refrained from giving an opinion and the Council is awaiting an official letter in this regard.

3. At its meeting on 15 November 1999, the Council adopted its common position in accordance with Article 251 of the EC Treaty.

II. PURPOSE OF THE DIRECTIVE

The purpose of this proposal is to make certain amendments to Council Directive 96/25/EC on the circulation of feed materials and to Council Directive 79/373/EEC on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs.

The amendments to Directive 96/25/EC seek to:

1. Broaden its scope and title so that in the future the Community rules apply not only to the circulation of feed materials but also to their use.

2. Ensure that, in addition to the rules laid down in Article 3 under which feed materials must be sound, genuine and of merchantable quality, they do not have an unfavourable effect on the environment on account of any undesirable contaminants they may contain.

3. Establish a list of raw materials for feed whose circulation and use in feedingstuffs in general will be banned in order to comply with the rules laid down in Article 3. This list will be based on the one attached to Decision 91/516/EEC establishing a list of ingredients whose use is currently only banned in the manufacture of compound feedingstuffs.

4. A final objective of the amendment to this Directive is to ensure the traceability of feed materials composed of animal waste as defined by Directive 90/667/EEC laying down the veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste, for its placing on the market and for the prevention of pathogens in feedingstuffs of animal or fish origin and amending Directive 90/425/EEC. In order for such feed materials to be traceable from the moment they are put into circulation up to the end use, the product label must include information by which the producers can easily be identified (i.e. in addition to the name and address of the establishment, also the approval and reference number of the batch).

The amendments to Directive 79/373/EEC seek to:

1. Delete all references to the list of ingredients whose use in compound feedingstuffs is banned in order to avoid confusion with the new list of raw materials whose circulation and use in feedingstuffs in general is to be banned.

2. Include a reference to the ban on the use in the manufacture of compound feedingstuffs of the raw materials appearing on this new list.

3. Include a provision requiring that the label or the accompanying document to compound feedingstuffs should show either the approval number of the establishment (as defined by Directive 95/69/EC laying down the conditions and arrangements for approving and registering certain establishments and intermediaries operating in the animal feed sector and amending Directives 70/524/EEC, 74/63/EEC, 79/373/EEC and 82/471/EEC) or the registration number, as the case may be.

III. COMMISSION'S POSITION (with regard to the Council's common position):

One of the most problematic issues for achieving a common position has been the legal basis (100A) of the proposal. The Commission had defended that this was the correct legal basis; With the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Council and the Commission agreed that the proposal should be based on Article 152(4).

For the rest, the Council approved the substance of the Commission proposal with only a few amendments to which the Commission could agree. In addition, several editorial changes have been made with the aim of clarifying the meaning of the text.

The Council has introduced the following changes:

1. The new Articles 1(1) and 1(7) have been added with a corresponding whereas clause with the aim of harmonising terminology used in existing Community legislation, notably the replacement of the term "marketing" by the term "circulation" which has been introduced in Community legislation in the last decade. Nonetheless, there is no need to amend the German language version because the term "circulation" is already used in it.

2. The new Article 1(3) with a corresponding whereas clause, which clarifies that the specific properties determining the quality of compound feedingstuffs are also conditioned by the minimum storage life of additives contained in these feedingstuffs, and which requires that this is made transparent to the end user.

3. The new Article 1(8) which provides for the replacement of the term "mangimi" in the Italian language version by the term "alimenti per animali".

4. An amendment to Article 2(3), which introduces a distinction as regards the quality requirements for the feed materials that are put into circulation, and those which are put to direct use. Neither must represent a danger to animal or human health or to the environment, but the latter does no longer have the requirement to be of merchantable quality, sound or genuine.

5. Article 2(4) first indent has been amended to ensure the traceability of a wider range of feed materials than those covered by Directive 90/667/EEC laying down the veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste, for its placing on the market and for the prevention of pathogens in feedingstuffs of animal or fish origin and amending Directive 90/425/EEC.

IV. CONCLUSIONS:

The Commission can agree on the Council's common position, because the introduced amendments and the new inserted articles improve the Directive.

The Council has adopted the common position by unanimity.

V. DECLARATIONS OF THE COMMISSION:

There are no unilateral declarations of the Commission.