Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999 of 19 July 1999 supplementing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs to include livestock production

• Coming into Force: 24 August 2001,24 August 1999
• End of Effective Date: 31 December 2008
• Celex Number: 31999R1804
• ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1999/1804/oj
• Published date: 24 August 1999
• Date: 19 July 1999
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 222, 24 August 1999

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Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999 of 19 July 1999 supplementing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs to include livestock production

Official Journal L 222 , 24/08/1999 P. 0001 - 0028

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1804/1999

of 19 July 1999

supplementing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs to include livestock production

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3),

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91(4) provide that the Commission is to put forward proposals before 30 June 1995 concerning the principles for, and specific inspection measures covering, organic production of livestock, unprocessed livestock products and products intended for human consumption containing ingredients of animal origin;

(2) Demand for organically produced agricultural products is rising and consumers are increasingly attracted by such products;

(3) Livestock production allows that range of products to be extended and permits the development on agricultural holdings practising organic farming of complementary activities accounting for a major share of income;

(4) This Regulation harmonises rules of production, labelling and inspection for the most relevant livestock species; for species, other than aquatic species, for which no rules of production are developed in this Regulation, it is appropriate for consumer protection to harmonise at least the labelling requirements and the inspection system; for agriculture products such rules should be developed as soon as possible;

(5) Moreover, livestock production is fundamental to the organisation of agricultural production on organic-production holdings in so far as it provides the necessary organic matter and nutrients for cultivated land and accordingly contributes towards soil improvement and the development of sustainable agriculture;

(6) In order to avoid environmental pollution, in particular of natural resources such as the soil and water, organic production of livestock must in principle provide for a close relationship between such production and the land, suitable multiannual rotation systems and the feeding of livestock with organic-farming crop products produced on the holding itself;

(7) In order to prevent pollution of water by nitrogenous compounds, organic-production livestock holdings should have appropriate storage capacity and plans for the spreading of solid and liquid livestock effluents;

(8) Pastoral stockfarming carried out in accordance with the rules of organic farming is an activity particularly suited to the maintenance and exploitation of the potential of abandoned areas;

(9) A wide biological diversity should be encouraged and the choice of breeds should take account of their capacity to adopt to local conditions;

(10) Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products derived therefrom are not compatible with the organic production method; in order to maintain consumer confidence in organic production, genetically modified organisms, parts thereof and products derived therefrom should not be used in products labelled as from organic production;

(11) Consumers should be given guarantees that the products have been produced in accordance with this Regulation; as far as technically possible, this should be based on the traceability of livestock products;

(12) Livestock must be fed on grass, fodder and feedingstuffs produced in accordance with the rules of organic farming;

(13) Under the present circumstances, stockfarmers may experience difficulty in securing supplies of feedingstuffs for organically reared livestock and therefore authorisation should provisionally be granted for a limited number of non-organically produced feedingstuffs to be used in restricted quantities;

(14) In addition, in order to provide for the basic nutritional requirements of livestock, certain minerals, trace elements and vitamins may need to be used under well defined conditions;

(15) Animal-health management should mainly be based on prevention, by measures such as appropriate selection of breeds and strains, a balanced high-quality diet and a favourable environment, in particular as regards rearing density, livestock housing and husbandry practices;

(16) The preventive use of chemically-synthesised allopathic medicinal products is not permitted in organic farming;

(17) However, when animals become sick or injured, they should be treated immediately by giving preference to phytotherapeutic or homeopathic medicinal products and by limiting to a strict minimum the use of chemically-synthesised allopathic medicinal products in order to guarantee the integrity of organic production for consumers it should be possible to take restrictive measures such as doubling the withdrawal period after use of chemically synthesised allopathic medicinal products;

(18) In most cases livestock should have access to free-range exercise areas or grazing, weather conditions permitting, and such free-range areas should in principle be organised under an appropriate system of rotation;

(19) Housing for all species of livestock should satisfy the needs of the animals concerned as regards ventilation, light, space and comfort and sufficient area should accordingly be provided to permit ample freedom of movement for each animal and to develop the animal's natural social behaviour;

(20) Systematic operations which lead to stress, harm, disease or the suffering of animals during the production, handling, transport or slaughtering stages should be reduced to the minimum; however, specific interventions essential to certain types of production may be permitted; the use of certain substances to stimulate growth or modify breeding cycles is not compatible with the principles of organic farming;

(21) The special features of beekeeping call for specific provisions, in particular to ensure that sources of pollen and nectar of adequate quality are available in sufficient quantities;

(22) All operators marketing products of organically reared livestock should be subject to regular and uniform inspections; a register should be kept accessible at the holding and updated with details of livestock arriving at and leaving the holding and any treatment administered;

(23) Regional differences in agricultural and climatological conditions call for certain transitional periods for certain practices, and regarding the characteristics of livestock buildings and installations;

(24) The current diversity of established practices for organic production of livestock between the Member States requires that it should be possible for Member States to apply more restrictive rules for the livestock and livestock products produced in their territory;

(25) The indications in the labelling, advertising material or commercial documents which are considered by the consumer as a reference to the organic production method are reserved by Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 for products produced in accordance with that regulation;

(26) Certain indications are generally considered by the consumer as a reference to the organic production method;

(27) However, it is necessary to provide a transitional period in order to permit trade-mark holders to adapt their production to the requirements of organic farming, provided that such a transitional period is available only to trade marks bearing the aforementioned indications where application for registration was made before the publication of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 and that the consumer is informed appropriately of the fact that the products are not produced according to the organic production method,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

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

1. Article 1 shall be replaced by the following: "Article 1

1. This Regulation shall apply to the following products, where such products bear, or are intended to bear, indications referring to the organic production method:

(a) unprocessed agricultural crop products; also livestock and unprocessed livestock products, to the extent that principles of production and specific inspection rules for them are introduced in Annexes I and III;

(b) processed agricultural crop and livestock products intended for human consumption prepared essentially from one or more ingredients of plant and/or animal origin;

(c) feedingstuffs, compound feedingstuffs and feed materials not covered under subparagraph (a) as from the entry into force of this Regulation referred to in paragraph 3.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where the detailed production rules are not laid down in Annex I for certain animal species, the rules provided for labelling in Article 5 and for the inspections in Articles 8 and 9 shall apply for these species and the products therefrom, with the exception of aquaculture and aquaculture products. Pending the inclusion of detailed production rules, national rules or in the absence thereof private standards accepted or recognised by the Member States shall apply.

3. The Commission shall, not later than 24 August 2001, propose a regulation in accordance with the procedure in Article 14 providing for labelling requirements as well as inspection requirements and precautionary measures for products mentioned in paragraph (1)(c), as far as these requirements are related to the organic production method.

Pending the adoption of the Regulation referred to in the first subparagraph for the products mentioned in paragraph...