Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on indications or marks identifying the lot to which a foodstuff belongs
Date: 2010-09-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: consumer information, foodstuff, labelling, trade information, trade mark

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 24.9.2010 
COM(2010) 506 final 

2010/0259 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on indications or marks identifying the lot to which a foodstuff belongs 

(Codification) 

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1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In  the  context  of  a  people’s  Europe,  the  Commission  attaches  great  importance  to 
simplifying  and  clarifying  the  law  of  the  Union  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  more 
accessible to the citizens, thus giving them new opportunities and the chance to make 
use of the specific rights it gives them. 

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended 
several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought 
partly  in  the  original  instrument  and  partly  in  later  amending  ones.  Considerable 
research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the 
current rules. 

For  this  reason  a  codification  of  rules  that  have  frequently  been  amended  is  also 
essential if the law is to be clear and transparent. 
On 1 April 1987 the Commission decided1 to instruct its staff that all acts should be 
codified  after  no  more  than  ten  amendments,  stressing  that  this  was  a  minimum 
requirement  and  that  departments  should  endeavour  to  codify  at  even  shorter 
intervals the texts for which they are responsible, to ensure that their provisions are 
clear and readily understandable. 

the  Edinburgh  European  Council 
The  Conclusions  of 
(December 1992) confirmed this2, stressing the importance of codification as it offers 
certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time. 

the  Presidency  of 

Codification  must  be  undertaken  in  full  compliance  with  the  normal  procedure  for 
the adoption of acts of the Union. 

Given  that  no  changes  of  substance  may  be  made  to  the  instruments  affected  by 
codification, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed, 
by  an  interinstitutional  agreement  dated  20  December  1994,  that  an  accelerated 
procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments. 

The  purpose  of  this  proposal  is  to  undertake  the  codification  of  Council 
Directive 89/396/EEC of 14 June 1989 on indications or marks identifying the lot to 
which  a  foodstuff  belongs3.  The  new  Directive  will  supersede  the  various  acts 
incorporated in it4; this proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified 
and hence does no more than bring them together with only such formal amendments 
as are required by the codification exercise itself. 

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COM(87) 868 PV. 
See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions. 
Entered in the legislative programme for […]. 
See Annex I, Part A of this proposal. 

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5. 

The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, 
in  22 official  languages,  of  Directive 89/396/EEC  and  the  instruments  amending  it, 
carried  out  by  the  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  by  means  of  a  data-
processing system. Where the Articles have been given new numbers, the correlation 
between the old and the new numbers is shown in a table contained in Annex II to 
the codified Directive. 

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(cid:208) 89/396/EEC (adapted) 

2010/0259 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on indications or marks identifying the lot to which a foodstuff belongs 

(Codification) 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article ⌦114⌫ thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee5, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

Council Directive 89/396/EEC of 14 June 1989 on indications or marks identifying the 
lot to which a foodstuff belongs6 has been substantially amended several times7. In the 
interests of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified. 

(cid:208) 

(2) 

The  internal  market  comprises  an  area  without  internal  frontiers  in  which  the  free 
movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 1 (adapted) 

(3) 

Trade in foodstuffs occupies a very important place in the internal market. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 2 

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7 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 186, 30.6.1989, p. 21. 
See Annex I, Part A. 

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(4) 

Indication of the lot to which a foodstuff belongs meets the need for better information 
on  the  identity  of  products.  It  is  therefore  a  useful  source  of  information  when 
foodstuffs are the subject of dispute or constitute a health hazard for consumers. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 3 

(5) 

Directive  2000/13/EC  of 
the  Council  of 
20 March 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the 
labelling,  presentation  and  advertising  of  foodstuffs8  contains  no  provisions  on 
indication of lot identification.  

the  European  Parliament  and  of 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 4 (adapted) 

(6) 

At  international  level  there  is  a  general  obligation  to  provide  a  reference  to  the 
manufacturing  or  packaging  lot  of  prepackaged  foodstuffs.  It  is  the  duty  ⌦ of  the 
Union ⌫ to contribute to the development of international trade. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 5 (adapted) 

(7) 

It is therefore advisable to ⌦ provide for ⌫ rules of a general and horizontal nature 
in order to ⌦ manage ⌫ a common lot identification system. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 6 (adapted) 

(8) 

The  efficiency  of  ⌦ that ⌫  system  depends  on  its  application  at  the  various 
marketing  stages.  It  is  nevertheless  desirable  to  exclude  certain  products  and 
operations in particular those taking place at the start of the  distribution network for 
agricultural products. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 7 (adapted) 

(cid:208) 91/238/EEC recitals 1 and 2 
(adapted) 

(9) 

It is necessary to take account of the fact that the immediate consumption on purchase 
of certain foodstuffs such as ice cream in individual portions means that indicating the 
lot  directly  on  the  individual  packaging  would  serve  no  useful  purpose.  However,  it 
⌦ should ⌫ be compulsory in the case of ⌦ those ⌫ products to indicate the lot 
on the combined package. 

(10)  The  concept  of  a  lot  implies  that  several  sales  units  of  a  foodstuff  have  almost 
identical  production,  manufacture  or  packaging  characteristics.  That  concept 
⌦ should, ⌫ therefore, not apply to bulk products or products which, owing to their 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 8 (adapted) 

8 

OJ L 109, 6.5.2000, p. 29. 

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individual specificity or heterogeneous nature, ⌦ cannot ⌫ be considered as forming 
a homogeneous batch. 

(11) 

In  view  of  the  variety  of  identification  methods  used,  it  ⌦ should  be ⌫  up  to  the 
trader to determine the lot and to affix the corresponding indication or mark. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 9 (adapted) 

(12) 

In order to satisfy the information requirements for which it is intended, that indication 
⌦ should ⌫ be clearly distinguishable and recognisable as such. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 10 (adapted) 

(13)  The  date  of  minimum  durability  or  ‘use  by’  date,  may,  in  conformity  with 
Directive 2000/13/EC, serve as the lot identification, provided it is indicated precisely. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC recital 11 

(14)  This  Directive  should  be  without  prejudice  to  the  obligations  of  the  Member  States 
relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in 
Annex I, Part B, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

(cid:208) 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC 

Article 1 

1.  This  Directive  concerns  the  indication  which  allows  identification  of  the  lot  to  which  a 
foodstuff belongs. 

2.  For  the  purposes  of  this  Directive,  ‘lot’  means  a  batch  of  sales  units  of  a  foodstuff 
produced, manufactured or packaged under practically the same conditions. 

1. A foodstuff may not be marketed unless it is accompanied by an indication as referred to in 
Article 1(1). 

Article 2 

2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply: 

(a) 

to agricultural products which, on leaving the holding are: 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC (adapted) 

(i) 

sold or delivered to temporary storage, preparation or packaging stations; 

(ii) 

transported to producers' organisations; or 

(iii)  collected  for  immediate  integration  into  an  operational  preparation  or 

processing system; 

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(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC 

when,  at  the  point  of  sale  to  the  ultimate  consumer,  the  foodstuffs  are  not 
prepackaged,  are  packaged  at  the  request  of  the  purchaser  or  are  prepackaged  for 
immediate sale; 
to packagings or containers, the largest side of which has an area of less than 10 cm2; 

to  individual  portions  of  ice  cream.  The  indication  enabling  the  lot  to  be  identified 
⌦ shall ⌫ appear on the combined package. 

(cid:208) 91/238/EEC Art. 1 (adapted) 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC (adapted) 

Article 3 

The  lot  shall  be  determined  in  each  case  by  the  producer,  manufacturer  or  packager  of  the 
foodstuff in question, or the first seller established within the ⌦ Union ⌫. 

The  indication  referred  to  in  Article  1(1)  shall  be  determined  and  affixed  under  the 
responsibility of one or other of those operators. It shall be preceded by the letter ‘L’ except in 
cases where it is clearly distinguishable from the other indications on the label. 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC 

Article 4 

When  the  foodstuffs  are  prepackaged,  the  indication  referred  to  in  Article 1(1)  and,  where 
appropriate, the letter ‘L’ shall appear on the prepackaging or on a label attached thereto. 

When the foodstuffs are not prepackaged, the indication referred to in Article 1(1) and, where 
appropriate, the letter ‘L’ shall appear on the packaging or on the container or, failing that, on 
the relevant commercial documents. 

It shall in all cases appear in such a way as to be easily visible, clearly legible and indelible. 

When  the  date  of  minimum  durability  or  ‘use  by’  date  appears  on  the  label,  the  indication 
referred to in Article 1(1) need not appear on the foodstuff, provided that the date consists at 
least of the uncoded indication of the day and the month in that order. 

Article 5 

Article 6 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC (adapted) 

This  Directive  shall  apply  without  prejudice  to  the  indications  laid  down  by  specific 
provisions ⌦ of the Union ⌫. 

The Commission shall publish and keep up to date a list of the provisions in question. 

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(cid:208) 

Article 7 

Directive  89/396/EEC,  as  amended  by  the  Directives  listed  in  Annex I,  Part A,  is  repealed, 
without  prejudice  to  the  obligations  of  the  Member  States  relating  to  the  time-limits  for 
transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex I, Part B. 

References  to  the  repealed  Directive  shall  be  construed  as  references  to  this  Directive  and 
shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex II. 

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 8 

(cid:208) 89/396/EEC 

Article 9 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at […] 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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(cid:207) 

ANNEX I 

Part A 

Repealed Directive with list of its successive amendments 
(referred to in Article 7) 

Council Directive 89/396/EEC 

(OJ L 186, 30.6.1989, p. 21) 

Council Directive 91/238/EEC 

(OJ L 107, 27.4.1991, p. 50) 

Council Directive 92/11/EEC 

(OJ L 65, 11.3.1992, p. 32) 

Part B 

List of time-limits for transposition into national law 
(referred to in Article 7) 

Directive 

Time-limit for transposition 

89/396/EEC 

91/238/EEC 

92/11/EEC 

20 June 1990(*) 

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- 

_______________ 
(*) 

In  accordance  with  the  first  paragraph  of  Article  7  of  Directive  89/396/EEC,  as  amended  by 
Directive 92/11/EEC: 

"Member States shall, where necessary, amend their laws, regulations or administrative provisions so 
as to: 

– 

– 

authorise trade in products complying with this Directive by not later than 20 June 1990, 

prohibit  trade  in  products  not  complying  with  this  Directive  with  effect  from  1 July 1992. 
However,  trade  in  products  placed  on  the  market  or  labelled  before  that  date  and  not 
conforming with this Directive may continue until stocks run out." 

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ANNEX II 

CORRELATION TABLE 

Directive 89/396/EEC 

This Directive 

Article 1 

Article 1 

Article 2(1) and (2) 

Article 2(1) and (2) 

Article 2(3) 

Articles 3 to 6 

Article 7 

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- 

Article 8 

- 

- 

- 

Articles 3 to 6 

- 

Article 7 

Article 8 

Article 9 

Annex I 

Annex II 

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