CELEX: 31968R1619
Language: en
Date: 1968-10-15 00:00:00
Title: Regulation (EEC) No 1619/68 of the Council of 15 October 1968 on marketing standards for eggs

Official Journal of the European Communities                                       489
 21.10.C                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 258/ 1
                             REGULATION (EEC) No 1619/68 OF THE COUNCIL
                                                  of 15 October 1968
                                            on marketing standards for eggs
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                       whereas, therefore, a list should be drawn up of
                                                                suppliers to undertakings entitled to grade eggs by
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                     quality and weight;
European Economic Community;
                                                                Whereas the grading of eggs should be confined
Having regard to Council Regulation No 122/67/                  solely to undertakings which are adequately equipped
EEC1 of 13 June 1967 on the common organisation                  for the purpose ;
of the market in eggs, and in particular Article 2 (2)
thereof;                                                        Whereas the quality requirements for eggs must be
                                                                easy for consumers to understand and must be in
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ;             keeping with the efforts at rationalisation made at
                                                                all stages of distribution ; whereas, threrefore, a lim­
 WHereas Regulation No 122/67/EEC provides for                  ited but adequate number of quality and weight
 fixing marketing standards which may relate in                 grades should be laid down ;
particular to grading by quality and weight, packing,
warehousing, transport, presentation and marking
of eggs.                                                        Whereas to ensure that the consumer is supplied with
                                                                good quality produce, criteria of a high standard
Whereas     such   standards    can  contribute    to  an       should be fixed for each quality grade ;
improvement in the quality of eggs and, conse­
quently, facilitate their sale ; whereas it is therefore        Whereas the quality characteristics for the grade
in the interest of producers, traders and consumers             'fresh eggs' should consequently be defined so that
that marketing standards should be applied in                   they apply to first-quality eggs ; whereas certain eggs
respect of hen eggs suitable for human consumption',            may be considered as 'extra fresh' where a special
                                                                guarantee of freshness is given ;
Whereas in order to fix such standards a clear
distinction must be drawn between eggs suitable for             Whereas eggs of average quality, the characteristics
human consumption and eggs which are not and                    of which do not allow their inclusion in the grade
which, on principle, are for use in industries other            'fresh eggs', must be described as 'second-quality eggs'
than the food industry; whereas such rules further­             and graded as such ; whereas eggs which have
more require that eggs of other kinds should not                undergone a process of cleaning, dipping, refrigera­
be mixed with hen eggs ;                                       tion or preservation should as a general rule be put
                                                                in that grade ;
Whereas the standards must be applicable to all
hen eggs marketed on the territory of the Com­
munity; whereas it nonetheless seems advisable to              Whereas a third-quality grade should be established
exclude from the scope of their application certain            for eggs which do not meet the requirements for the
forms of sale from producer to consumer where                  higher grades but are still suitable for human con­
small quantities are involved ; whereas, moreover,             sumption; whereas such 'non-graded' eggs must be
eggs delivered from the place of production to a               reserved for processing or- for the food industry ;
packing centre or to certain wholesale markets and             whereas certain incubated eggs, whose characteristics
eggs intended for use in the food industry should               allow their limited use in the manufacture of
be exempted from grading and marking;                          pasteurised egg products, may be included in this
                                                               grade ;
Whereas the desired improvement in quality
necessitates regular and frequent egg collections ;            Whereas the consumer must be able to distinguish
                                                                between eggs of different quality and . weight grades ;
                                                               whereas this requirement can be met by marking
   OJ No 117, 19.6.1967, p. 2293/67.                           the eggs and packs ;
 ---pagebreak--- 490                                 Official Journal of the European Communities
Whereas the marking of 'fresh eggs ' can be op­              2. 'Industrial eggs' means hen eggs in shell other
tional, since the obligatory marking of other eggs           than those referred to in 1 .
enables them to be easily distinguished ;
                                                             3 . 'Eggs for hatching' means eggs intended for
Whereas anyone marketing 'fresh eggs' should be              chick production as specified in the rules concerning
permitted to stamp such eggs with other particulars          eggs for hatching.
serving publicity ends ;
                                                             4. 'Incubated eggs' means eggs from the time o.
Whereas any other markings might affect trading              insertion in the incubator.
conditions in the Community;
                                                             5 . 'Marketing' means holding or displaying for sale,
Whereas common provisions should be adopted for              offering for sale, selling, delivering or any othei
packing such as will ensure that the quality of the          form of marketing.
eggs is maintained and will facilitate trade and the
supervision of compliance with standards ;                   6. ' Collector' means any person authorised to col­
                                                             lect eggs or industrial eggs from a producer for
Whereas in order to leave a choice open to the               delivery :
consumer and to ensure that he is offered goods con­
forming with quality and weight standards, retailers         ( a) to a packing centre,
must display the appropriate information either on           (b) to a market selling exclusively to wholesalers
the goods offered or beside them ;                                 whose undertakings are approved as packing
                                                                   centres, or
Whereas it is essential, in the interest of both pro­
ducer and consumer, that eggs imported from third            (c) to industry.
countries should comply with Community standards ;
                                                             7. 'Packing centre' means an undertaking authorised
Whereas the application of Community rules on the            by the competent authority to grade eggs by quality
importation and exportation of eggs requires the             and weight.
name of the country of origin to be shown on eggs
coming from third countries ;                                8 . 'Batch' means the eggs from one and the same
                                                             packing centre in packs bearing one and the same
Whereas special provisions in force in certain third         packing date or one and the same packing week
 countries may call for derogations which in such            number and one and the same quality grading and,
cases allow exportation outside the Community ;              where required, weight grading.
Whereas it is for each Member State to designate
the agency or agencies responsible for supervision ;                                   Article 2
whereas procedure for this supervision must be
uniform ; whereas, consequently, common provisions           1 . Eggs shall not be marketed within the Community
should be laid down with regard to sampling and              by way of business or trade unless they satisfy the
tolerances ;                                                 provisions of this Regulation.
Whereas it is for each Member State also to lay              2. However, it shall not be necessary to grade eggs
down penalties for infringements ;                           by quality and weight nor mark them
                                                             ( a) if they are transported directly from the place of
Whereas the provisions of this Regulation are                      production to a packing centre or to a market
without prejudice to any Community provisions                      selling exclusively to wholesalers whose under­
which may be adopted in order to harmonise the                     takings are approved as packing centres in accor­
provisions of veterinary and foodstuffs legislation                dance with Article 5, and
aimed at protecting the health of people and animals
and at preventing adulteration and fraud ;                   ( b ) if they are produced in the Community and
                                                                   delivered to the food industry for processing.
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                                             3 . The provisions of this Regulation shall not apply
                         Article 1                           to eggs passed directly to the consumer for his own
                                                             use by the producer on his own farm, in a local
For the purposes of this Regulation:                         public market or by door-to-door selling, provided
1 . 'Eggs' means hen eggs in shell, suitable for direct      that the eggs come from his own production, are
human consumption or for use in the food industries,         not packed in accordance with Articles 16 to 19,
except for incubated eggs which do not meet the              and use is not made of any of the quality and weight
requirements of Article 6 (2).                               gradings laid down in this Regulation.
 ---pagebreak---                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                        491
                         Article 3                               ( a) they shall be marked before insertion in the in­
                                                                      cubator,
Eggs as defined in Article 1 ( 1 ) shall not be mixed
with eggs of other kinds .                                       (b ) they shall not be fertile and shall be absolutely
                                                                      clear when candled,
                         Article 4                               (c) the air space shall not exceed a height of 9 mm,
 1 . "Without prejudice - to the provisions of Articles         ( d) they shall not have remained more than six days
2 and 9, producers shall not deliver:                                 in an incubator,
(a) eggs to anyone but collectors, packing centres,
     markets within the meaning of Articles 2 (2) ( a)          (e) they shall not have been treated with antibiotics,
      or industry :                                              (f) they shall be intended for use in a processing
(b) industrial eggs to anyone but collectors, packing                 plant manufacturing pasteurised egg products.
     centres, markets within the meaning of Article
     2 (2) (a) or industry, except the food industry.
                                                                                           Article 7
2. All packing centres and collectors shall collect
eggs from the producers at least once a week. They              1 . Grade A eggs shall have the following minimum
shall, however, collect at least twice a week from the          characteristics :
same producer eggs intended for marketing as
'Extra' in accordance with Article 19 .
                                                                 Shell and cuticle :   normal, clean, undamaged ;
All collectors shall deliver eggs to the packing centres         Air space :           height not exceeding 6 mm,
 not later than the third working day following that                                   stationary ;
of collection.                                                   "White :             clear, limpid, of gelatinous consist­
                                                                                      ency, free of extraneous matters of
                                                                                      any kind ;
                         Article 5
                                                                 Yolk :               visible on candling as a shadow
1 . Apart from the cases provided for in Articles 9                                   only, without clearly discernible
and 13 , only packing centres may grade eggs by                                        outline, not moving appreciably
quality and weight. Packing centres shall keep an                                      away from the centre of the egg
up-to-date record of their suppliers.                                                 on rotation, free of extraneous
                                                                                      matter of any kind ;
                                                                 Germ cell :          imperceptible development;
2. The competent authority shall grant authoris­                 Odour :              free of extraneous odour.
ations to grade eggs and shall allot a distinguishing
number to any undertaking or producer whose
premises and technical equipment are suitable for               2. Grade A eggs shall not have been washed or
grading eggs by quality and weight, at its or his               cleaned by any other means.
request. Such authorisation may be withdrawn
whenever the required conditions are no longer                  3 . Grade A eggs shall not have been treated for
fulfilled .                                                     preservation or refrigerated in premises or plants
                                                                where the temperature is artificially maintained at
3 . Further provisions on the conditions for approval           less than + 8°C. However, eggs which have been
of packing centres shall be adopted in accordance               kept at a temperature below + 8°C an retail premises
                                                                or in annexes thereto shall not be considered as
with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Regu­
lation No 122/67/EEC.                                           refrigerated in so far as the quantity stores in these
                                                                annexes does not exceed the requirements for three
                                                                days of retail sale on the premises in question.
                         Article 6
1 . Eggs shall be graded by quality as follows :                4. By way of derogation from the provisions of
                                                                paragraph 2 and of the first sentence of paragraph 3 ,
Grade A or 'fresh eggs'                                         the provisions concerning the conditions under which
                                                                Grade A eggs may be washed or otherwise cleaned
Grade B or 'second-quality or preserved eggs'                   or dipped and those concerning the supervision of
Grade C or 'non-graded eggs intended for the food               these operations may be adopted in accordance with
industry'.                                                      the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Regulation
                                                                No 122/67/EEC. "With regard to conditions as to
2. Incubated eggs, however, may only be graded                  dipping, however, this derogation shall not apply to
under 'C' and then only provided that they meet                 Grade A eggs marketed under the description 'Extra'
the following requirements :                                    in accordance with Article 19 .
 ---pagebreak--- 492                                     Official Journal of the European Communities
                           Article 8                             — Grade 5 : under 55 g to 50 g
1 . Grade B eggs shall have the following minimum                — Grade 6 : under 50 g to 45 g
characteristics :
                                                                 — Grade 7 : under 45 g.
Shell :         normal and undamaged;'
Air space :     height not exceeding 9 mm ;                                               Article 1 1
White :         clear, limpid, free of extraneous matter
                of any kind;                                     1 . One or more distinguishing marks may be
Yolk :          — visible on candling as a shadow only ;         stamped on Grade A eggs showing :
                    this characteristic is not required of
                    eggs preserved in lime ;                     ( a ) quality grading;
                — free of extraneous matter of any               (b ) weight grading ;
                    kind ;
Germ cell : imperceptible development ;                          ( c) the packing week number as defined in Article
Odour :         free of extraneous odour.                           ' 17(2);
2. Grade B shall include three types of eggs :                   ( d ) the packing centre number ;
( a) Eggs neither refrigerated nor preserved :                   (e) the name or business name of the packing centre ;
     Grade B eggs which have not undergone any                   ( f) trade name or trade mark.
     preservative treatment and have not been
     refrigerated in premises or plants where the                2. The Grade A distinguishing mark shall be a
     temperature is artificially maintained at less              circle of at least 12 mm in diameter.
     than + 8°C.
                                                                 The distinguishing mark for weight grading shall be
     However, eggs , which have been kept at a                   a number between 2 mm and 3 mm high, placed
     temperature below + 8°C on retail premises or in            inside the above-mentioned circle .
     annexes thereto shall not be considered as re­
     frigerated in so far as the quantity stored in              The packing week number shall be a one- or two­
     these annexes does not exceed the requirements              figure number at least 5 mm high.
     for three days of retail sale on the premises in
     question .
                                                                                          Article 12
(b) Refrigerated eggs :
     Grade B eggs which have been refrigerated in                1 . Grade B and C eggs, except for cracked eggs,
     premises artificially maintained at a temperature           shall bear a distinguishing mark showing their qua­
     below + 8°C.                                                lity grading. They may bear a number between 2 mm
                                                                 and 3 mm high showing the weight grading and
(c) Preserved eggs :                                             one or more of the particulars mentioned in Article
     Grade B eggs which have been preserved,                     11 ( 1 ).
     whether refrigerated or not, in a gas mixture the
     composition of which differs from that of                   2. The distinguishing mark showing quality grading
     atmospheric air, and those which have under­                for Grade B eggs shall be as follows :
     gone any other preservative treatment.                      ( a ) for 'eggs neither refrigerated nor preserved', a
                                                                       circle at least 12 mm in diameter in which shall
                           Article 9                                   appear the letter B in Roman type at least 5 mm
Grade C eggs shall be eggs which do not meet the                       high ;
requirements applicable to eggs in Grades A and B.                (b) for 'refrigerated eggs', an equilateral triangle
They may only be passed to egg processing plants                       with each side at least 10 mm long;
or to industry ; incubated eggs of Grade C may only
be sold to egg processing plants for the manufacture              (c) for 'preserved eggs', a rhombus with diagonals
of pasteurised egg products.                                           of 16 mm and 7 mm .
                           Article 10                            Anyone who refrigerates or otherwise preserves eggs
                                                                  shall mark them as indicated in (b) or (c) before
Grade A and B eggs shall be graded by weight as                  doing so. For eggs preserved in lime, however, these
follows :
                                                                 marks may be affixed after the preserving process
— Grade 1 : 70 g and over                                        has been carried out.
— Grade 2 : under 70 g to 65 g                                   3 . The distinguishing mark for the quality grading
— Grade 3 : under 65 g to 60 g                                   of Grade C eggs shall be a circle at least 12 mm in
                                                                 diameter in which shall appear the letter C in Roman
— Grade 4 : under 60 g to 55 g                                   type at least 5 mm high.
 ---pagebreak---                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                     493
                         Article 13                             ( d ) the number of eggs packed ;
1 . Grade A or B eggs which no longer have the                  (e) the packing week number; however, where
characteristics fixed for those grades shall be                       large packs contain small packs of the kind
withdrawn from their grade and may be regraded                        mentioned in Article 19, or small packs bearing
in B or C according to their new characteristics.                     the date of packing, the date of packing shall be
                                                                      substituted for this number ;
In such a case, they shall bear a distinguishing mark
in accordance with Article 12. Any marks which                  (f) particulars as to refrigeration or the method of
may have been affixed in accordanece with Article 11                  preservation, uncoded and in Roman type, in
or Article 12 ( 1 ) may be retained, except for those                 respect of refrigerated or preserved eggs .
concerning weight grading which shall be altered if
appropriate.                                                    2 . The week numbers mentioned in paragraph 1 (e )
                                                                (from 1 to 53 ) shall correspond to the weeks of the
2. However, by way of derogation from the                       calendar year, it being understood that each week
provisions of paragraph 1 , Grade A and B eggs which            number may be used from midnight on Thursday/
no longer have the characteristics fixed for these              Friday of the preceding week; the first week of each
grades may be delivered directly to the food industry,          year shall be the week starting on the first Monday
provided that their packings are clearly marked to              in the year.
show this destination .
                         Article 14                             3 . The week number shall be marked on large packs
                                                                containing eggs in Grade A not later than on the
1 . The distinguishing marks affixed in accordance              working day following the day when the eggs were
with Articles 11 , 12 and 13 must be clearly legible.           received in the packing centre.
2. Eggs shall be marked in an indelible black colour                                      Article 18
resistant to boiling. The product used 'must comply
with the provisions in force in respect of colouring            1 . Small packs, even when they are inside large
matters which may be used in foodstuffs intended                packs, shall show in clearly visible and legible type :
for human consumption.
                                                                ( a ) the name, the business name and, where
                         Article 15
                                                                      applicable, the trade mark and the address of the
Eggs shall not bear any other marks than those laid                   undertaking which packed the eggs or had them
 down in this Regulation .                                            packed ;
                                                                ( b ) the packing centre's distinguishing mark ;
                         Article 16
                                                                ( c) the quality and weight grading;
For the purposes of this Regulation, 'large packs'
means packs which contain more than thirty                      ( d) the number of eggs packed ;
eggs and 'small packs' those which contain thirty eggs          (e) the date of packing or the packing week number
 or less .
                                                                      mentioned in Article 17 (2);
                         Article 17                             (f) particulars as to refrigeration or the method of
                                                                      preservation, uncoded and in Roman type, in
Large packs even when they contain eggs in small                      respect of refrigerated or preserved eggs .
packs shall be provided with a band or label which
cannot be re-used after the pack has been opened and            2. Particulars as to the date or the week number
 which shall be issued by or under the supervision of           shall be marked on the packs containing Grade A
 the official agencies mentioned in Article 26.                 eggs not later than on the working day following
                                                                the day when the eggs were received at the packing
                                                                centre .
 The band or label shall bear in clearly visible and
 legible black type :
                                                                                          Article 19
 ( a) the name or business name and the address of              The word 'Extra' may be used on small packs
      the undertaking which has graded or arranged              containing Grade A eggs, showing the date of packing
      for the grading of the goods ;                            and provided with a band.
 (b) the packing centre's distinguishing number;                The air space in such eggs shall have a height of
                                                                less than 4 mm at the time of packing.
 (c) the quality and weight grading;                            The word 'Extra' shall be printed on the band .
 ---pagebreak--- 494                                    Official Journal of the European Communities
The band shall be destroyed not later than on the                     — the country of origin printed in Roman type
seventh day after packing.                                                at least 20 mm high for large packs and at
                                                                          least 5 mm high for small packs even where
                         Article 20                                       the latter are inside large packs ;
1 . Eggs displayed for sale or offered for sale in the                — the name of the packers in the third country;
retail trade shall be presented separately according                  — the quality and weight grading;
to quality and weight grading. The quality and
weight grading, and also refrigeration or the method                  — the weight in kilogrammes of the packed eggs;
of preservation for refrigerated or preserved eggs,
shall be indicated in a manner clearly visible to the                 — the date of packing;
consumer .                                                            — in the case of large packs, the sender's name
                                                                          and address .
2. However, eggs of the same quality grading,
except for Grade A eggs marked 'Extra' in accord­
ance with Article 19, may by displayed for sale or                                         Article 24
offered for sale in small packs of not more than
twelve eggs which may be of different weight gradings            1 . The provisions of this Regulation shall also apply
provided that the weight grading is marked on each               to eggs packed and intended for export outside the
                                                                 Community. Eggs packed and intended for export
egg and the total net weight is substituted on the
                                                                 which have been dipped shall not, however, be
packs for the weight grading laid down in Article 17             deemed to have been treated for preservation.
( 1 ) (c) and Article 18 ( 1 ) (c) and the words 'eggs of
different sizes' are added thereto .
                                                                 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 and in
                          Article 21                             order to comply with the regulations of particular
                                                                 importing countries, eggs packed and intended for
Packs shall not bear any indications other than                  export may :
those laid down in this Regulation.
                                                                 ( a) be made to comply with requirements exceeding
                          Article 22                                  those laid down in this Regulation as regards
                                                                      quality, marking and labelling, or with additional
Additional provisions shall be adopted in accordance                  requirements ;
with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Regu­
lation No 122/67/EEC as regards :
                                                                  (b) bear on the pack marks or particulars of
                                                                      different nature, dimensions or colour, provided
(a) Requirements ds to packing and packing ma­                        that such marks and particulars are not likely to
      terials ;                                                       be mistaken for those laid down in this Regu­
                                                                      lation .
 (b) carriage and storage conditions ;
                                                                 3 . Eggs packed and intended for export may be
 (c) marking and labelling of packs ;                            graded by other weight gradings than those laid
                                                                 down in Article 10. In that case the weight grade
 (d) average weight of packed eggs ;                              shall be shown uncoded on the packs .
 (e) bands and other fastenings.                                                           Article 25
                                                                 The provisions of this Regulation shall not apply to
                          Article 23
                                                                 eggs imported from third countries or exported
Eggs from third countries shall not be imported for              outside the Community in small quantities not
free circulation in the Community unless :                       exceeding sixty eggs by the consumer for his own
                                                                 use .
( a) they comply with the provisions of Article 3 , 6 to
      12, 14, 15, 19, 20 (2) and 21 . The provisions of                                    Article 26
      the second paragraph of Article 19 shall , how­             1 . Compliance with this Regulation shall be
      ever, apply at the time of Customs clearance;              supervised by agencies appointed for the purpose in
                                                                 each Member State. A list of such agencies shall be
(b) they are legibly marked in Roman type with the               forwarded to other Member States and to the Com­
      name of the country of origin;                             mission not later than one month before the entry
                                                                 into force of this Regulation. Any amendment to
 (c) they are put up in packs bearing clearly and                this list shall be communicated to other Member
      legibly the following information:                          States and the Commission.
 ---pagebreak---                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    495
2. The products covered by this Regulation shall be          accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
checked by means of random sampling at all stages            17 of Regulation No 122/67/EEC. There shall,
of marketing as well as during carriage. For eggs            however, be no tolerance in respect of the height
imported from third countries such random sampling           of the air space laid down in Article 19 .
 checks shall also be made at the time of Customs
clearance.
                                                                                     Article 29
                       Article T1                            Member States shall take all appropriate measures to
                                                             penalise infringements of this Regulation .
1 . Decisions arising from failure to comply with
this Regulation may only be taken for the whole of                                   Article 30
the batch which has been checked .
                                                             1 . Member States and the Commission shall com­
2 . Where the checked batch is not deemed to
comply with this Regulation, the supervising agency
                                                             municate to each other the information necessary for
                                                             implementing this Regulation.
shall prohibit its marketing, or importation if the
batch comes from a third country, unless and until
proof is forthcoming that it has been made to comply         2. Measures aimed at ensuring uniform application
with this Regulation.                                        of this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance
                                                             with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Regu­
3 . The agency which made the check shall verify             lation No 122/67/EEC.
whether the rejected batch has been or is being made
to comply with this Regulation .
                                                                                     Article 31
                       Article 28
                                                             This Regulation shall enter      into force on the day
Detailed rules of application of Articles 26 and 27, in      following its publication in    the Official Journal of
particular as regards minimum sampling and the               the European Communities.        The system laid down
tolerances to be accepted in the supervision of              by this Regulation shall be     applicable from 1 May
compliance with this Regulation, shall be adopted in         1969 .
              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
              States .
              Done at Luxembourg, 15 October 1968 .
                                                                                 For the Council
                                                                                  The President
                                                                                   G. SEDATI