Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products
Date: 2008-05-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: consumer information, eco-label, labelling, organic product

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.5.2008 
COM(2008) 314 final 

2008/0097 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production  
and labelling of organic products 

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  834/2007  on  organic  production  and  labelling  of  organic 
products will apply as of 1 January 2009. Under Article 24(1)(b) of the Regulation, it will be 
compulsory to use an EU logo on pre-packaged organic products from that date. Before that 
date, the use of a Community logo is optional. 

The  purpose  of  the  present  proposal  is  to  postpone  the  compulsory  use  of  the  EU  logo 
pending the design of a new logo. 

This delay shall help to avoid: 

– 

– 

the confusion of consumers by changing EU logos within a short time period and 

the creation of additional financial burden for operators, who would have to change 
their packaging and print-outs within a very short time frame. 

Reason for the proposal: 

The  design  of  a  new  EU  logo  is  necessary  since  it  turned  out  that  the  current  EU  logo  for 
organic  products  according  to  Annex V  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No 2092/91  is  easily 
confusable with other logos, like the EU logos for quality production (PDIs, PGOs and TSGs) 
pursuant to Commission Regulations (EC) No 1898/2006 and (EC) No 1216/2007. 

It  is  important  for  the  perception  of  consumers  to  ensure  an  informative  labelling  with  a 
distinctive  and  appealing  EU  logo,  which  represents  the  organic  production  and  clearly 
identifies the products. 

To gain a broad acceptance of the new EU logo, it should be drawn up by including the public 
in  the  design  procedure.  This  will  be  carried  out  by  a  public  contest  during  the  promotion 
campaign for the organic farming which will be launched in July 2008. 

This campaign is scheduled for a period of three years and this timeframe can be used for the 
organisation  of  the  public  web-contest  at  European  level  and  subsequent  decision  making 
process. This implies postponing the compulsory use of the EU logo until mid-2010. 

2. 

CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

There were several discussions with Member States and stakeholders on the re-design of the 
logo in a first project. It entailed the necessity to involve a broad public consultation and, if 
possible, to avoid textual elements within the logo. 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS 

An  additional  paragraph  is  added  in  Article  42  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 834/2007  stipulating 
that Article 24(1)(b) and (c) of the Regulation will apply as of 1 July 2010. 

Legal basis: Article 37(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community 

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
4. 

OTHER 

There are no budgetary implications and no consequences for the EU budget. 

To summarise, the proposal is concise and would introduce clarity throughout the European 
organic sector. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
2008/0097 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production  
and labelling of organic products 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article 37(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament1, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  834/20072  has  introduced  rules  for  compulsory 
indications to be used on organic products, which, from 1 January 2009, includes the 
use of the Community logo on pre-packaged food according to Article 24(1)(b) of that 
Regulation. 

It  has  appeared  that  the  Community  logo  in  place  pursuant  to  Annex V  of  Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural 
products  and  indications  referring  thereto  on  agricultural  products  and  foodstuffs3  as 
amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 331/20004 could be confused with other 
logos in place for protected geographical indications, protected designations of origin 
pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1898/2006 of 14 December 2006 laying 
down  detailed  rules  of  implementation  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 510/2006  on 
the  protection  of  geographical  indications  and  designations  of  origin  for  agricultural 
products and foodstuffs5and the logo for traditional specialities guaranteed defined by 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007 of 18 October 2007 laying down detailed 
rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 509/2006 on agricultural 
products and foodstuffs as traditional specialities guaranteed6. 

(3) 

It is important for the perception of consumers to ensure an informative labelling with 
a  distinctive  and  appealing  Community  logo,  which  symbolises  organic  production 

1 
2 
3 

4 
5 
6 

Opinion of XXX.2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal). 
OJ L 189, 20.7.2007, p. 1. 
OJ L 198, 22.7.1991, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 123/2008, 
OJ L 38, 13.2.2008, p. 3. 
OJ L 48, 19.2.2000, p. 1. 
OJ L 369, 23.12.2006, p. 1. 
OJ L 275, 19.10.2007, p. 3. 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
                                                 
and clearly identifies the products. The design of such a Community logo requires a 
certain time period to be developed and to be made known to the public. 

(4) 

In order not to avoid unnecessary financial and organisational burden on operators, the 
compulsory  use  of  the  Community  logo  should  be  postponed  for  the  time  needed  to 
create the new Community logo. This decision does not prevent operators from using, 
on  a  voluntary  basis,  the  current  logo  defined  in  Annex V  to  Council  Regulation 
(EEC) No 2092/91. 

(5) 

Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

In Article 42 of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, the following fourth paragraph is added: 

"However, Article 24(1)(b) and (c) shall apply as from 1 July 2010." 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day after its publication in the Official 
Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

5 

   EN