Commission Regulation (EC) No 599/2003 of 1 April 2003 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-04-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural product, foodstuff, labelling, mode of production, organic farming

2.4.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 85/15

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 599/2003

of 1 April 2003

amending Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indica-
tions referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to the Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (1)
of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural
products and indications
referring thereto on agricultural
products and foodstuffs, as last amended by Commission Regu-
lation (EC) No 223/2003 (2), and in particular the second indent
of Article 13 thereof,

(5)

(6)

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Preservation of animal-health and welfare must be based
first and foremost upon prevention, thanks to measures
such as the appropriate selection of breeds and strains
and appropriate balanced diets.

Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 imposes precise feeding
constraints.
essential
substances, such as vitamins, should be covered by
natural inputs.

In particular,

supply of

the

Harmonised rules for the organic livestock production
are quite recent and breeders still may encounter difficul-
ties in obtaining animals with the capacity to adapt to
local conditions and/or to adequate management systems
and in providing their animals with all the essential
elements they need for harmonious growth, in particular
with regard to certain liposoluble vitamins in the case of
ruminants.

That authorisation shall be accompanied by an obliga-
tion on the Member States to inform the Commission
thereof.

The Committee, provided for in Article 14 of Regulation
(EEC) No 2092/91, has not delivered an opinion within
the time limit set by its chairman. According to the
fourth paragraph of Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No
2092/91, the Commission has transmitted the proposal
to the Council. Since the Council has not taken a posi-
tion within the three-month time limit provided for in
the fifth paragraph of Article 14 of the same Regulation
(EEC) No 2092/91, the proposed measures are to be
adopted by the Commission,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 is amended as follows:

(a) Annex I Part B is amended in accordance with point 1 of

the Annex to this Regulation;

(b) Annex II Parts C and D are amended in accordance with

point 2 of the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

(4)

A derogation is therefore needed to authorise under
specific conditions, exceptionally and only for a transi-
tional period, the use of vitamins A, D and E.

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the 20th day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 1 April 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 198, 22.7.1991, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 31, 6.2.2003, p. 3.

L 85/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

2.4.2003

ANNEX

1. Point 4.10 of Annex I, Part B, to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 is replaced by the following text:

‘4.10. For poultry, the feed formula used in the fattening stage must contain at least 65 % of a mixture of cereals,

protein crops and oilseeds.’

2. Annex II to Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 is amended as follows:

(a) in Part C, the following point 2.3 is added:

‘2.3. Eggs and egg products for use as poultry feed, preferably from the same holding.’;

(b) Part D is amended as follows:

(i) in point 1.2, the following subparagraph is added:

‘By derogation from the first subparagraph, and during a transitional period ending on 31 December 2005,
the competent authority of each Member State may authorise the use of synthetic vitamins of types A, D and
E for ruminants in so far as the following conditions are met:
— the synthetic vitamins are identical to the natural vitamins and,

— the authorisation issued by the Member States is founded on precise criteria and notified to the

Commission.

Producers may benefit from this authorisation only if they have demonstrated to the satisfaction of the
inspection body or authority of the Member State that the health and welfare of their animals cannot be guar-
anteed without the use of these synthetic vitamins.’

(ii) in point 2, the following text is added:

— ‘Brewer's yeasts’.