The new marketing rules for pet food in the European Union: Safe – transparent – modern

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The new marketing rules for pet food in the
European Union Safe transparent modern

• Dr. Wolfgang TRUNK
• European Commission
• DG SANCO

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Part 1 The European Union (EU)
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Part 1 - The European Union
27 Member States (MS) 3 Candidate Countries
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Pet food market in the EU

• 500 Mio inhabitants
• 62 Mio households in EU with pets
• 60 Mio cats, 56 Mio dogs, 9 Mio aquaria
• 450 pet food companies
• Petfood Sales 6 Mio t, 10 Bio
  (11,3), growth rate 3 p.a.

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Part 1 - The European Union
European Institutions
Institutional Triangle Decision Makers
European Commission
Council of the EU
European Council
European Parliament
European Court of Justice
Advisory Committees
Economic Social Committee
Committee of the Regions
European Court of Auditors
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Part 2 The European Commission (COM)
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Part 2 - The European Commission
The Role of the Commission

• Initiate negotiate draft legislation
• Ensure implementation of EU policies
• Apply EU laws
• Represent the EU on the world stage

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Part 3 DG SANCO
Our Commissioners Meglena KUNEVA and
Androulla VASSILIOU
Responsible for DG SANCO, Priorities

• Protecting and improving Public health
• Promoting EU food safety
• Protecting the health of animals plants
• Assuring animal welfare
• Standards worldwide

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Part 3 Pet food legislation as part of SANCO's
Food Safety System
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Part 3 SANCOs Core Activities
Food Safety

• EU laws cover
• How farmers produce feed and food
• How plants are grown, and how pesticides are used
• How ALL animals are fed, looked after, and
  transported
• How feed and food is processed, packaged, and
  sold
• How feed and food is labelled for consumers

A World Class Food Safety System from the Farm
to the Fork
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EU Agencies
European Food Safety Authority
EFSA provides independent scientific advice on
food safety issues Petfood covered via
assessment on adverse effects on animal health, -
welfare and environment
Excellence in risk assessment
http//www.efsa.europa.eu
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Part 4 Legislative framework for Pet food
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Evolution of EU law (I)

• Provisions on pet food introduced in
  EU-legislation already since 1970s, e.g.
  labelling rules, additives
• Nevertheless, feed legislation dominated by rules
  for food producing animals
• End 1990s, series of crises concerning human food
  and animal feed (BSE, dioxin, etc.) gt
  weaknesses in the food legislation within the EU.
  
• Response White Paper on Food Safety gt EU
  established a system for ensuring a high level of
  protection of public health, taking into account
  the protection of animal health and welfare and
  the environment (General Food Law, Regulation
  178/2002).
• In line with the new "farm to fork" approach,
  feed legislation has been crucial as feed is a
  sensitive element at the very beginning of the
  food chain.

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Evolution of EU law (II)

• Crucial points of the General Food Law (GFL)
• Precautionary principle
• Traceability throughout the food chain (ex pets)
• Responsibility of feed and food operators for the
  safety
• of their products (ex pets)
• Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (ex pets)
• Emergency measures (imports!)Article 11Food and
  feed imported into the Community for placing on
  the market within the Community shall comply with
  the relevant requirements of food law or
  conditions recognised by the Community to be at
  least equivalent thereto
• European food Safety Authority (EFSA) separation
  riskassessment and - management

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Evolution of EU law (III)

• On top of this horizontal new legislation, many
  specific laws have been successively come into
  force based on the spirit of the White Paper
  which tackle as well pet food
• - Directive 2002/32 on undesirable substances in
  feed
• - Regulation 1774/2002 with health rules for
  animal by-products
• - Regulation 1829/2003 on genetically modified
  food and feed
• - Regulation 1831/2003 on feed additives
• - Regulation 882/2004 on official controls on
  feed and food.
• - Regulation 183/2005 on feed hygiene

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Evolution of EU law (IV)

• Messages re pet food to be taken from
• Directive 2002/32 on undesirable substances in
  feed
• List of maximum residue levels for different
  contaminants such as heavy metals, dioxins,
  mycotoxins in various feed matrices including raw
  materials for pet food or compound feed for pets)
• Directive is regularly updated by the Commission
  based on risk assessment by EFSA
• Implementation/control of MRLs by EU-MS
• Ex dioxins in copper sulphate premixture or
  aflatoxins in white sunflower kernels

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Evolution of EU law (V)

• Messages re pet food to be taken from
• Regulation 1774/2002 with health rules for animal
  by-products
• gtPet food is the only feed use of meat and bone
  meal (by-products from
• animals fit for human consumption) allowed in
  the EU
• gtImport of pet food still acc Dir 97/78/EC
  (EU-list with TC-establishm not
• yet existing) entry via BIPs after
  pre-notification (MS-competence)
• TC of origin must be listed on the
  applicable Community list (TH on
• the list for pet food and dog chews)
• Plant of production in TC of origin must be
  approved by the competent
• authority of that country
• Imported product has to be accompanied by a
  certificate signed by the
• official TC-veterinarian, which confirms
  that the materials used for the
• pet food does not pose a health risk and
  the respective processing
• standards are met to mitigate potential
  risks.
• gt Sets microbiological criteria for certain
  products (Annex VIII, ch II)
• Ex Salmonella (present /25g) in dog chews or
  chicken meal for pet food

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Revision of Reg 1774/2002 on animal by-products

• New Commission proposal adopted on 10 June 2008
• The proposal contains the basic rules applicable
  to animal by-products and is supposed to be
  complemented in a second step by implementing
  rules, to be adopted by the Commission
• In accordance with the proposal, imported pet
  food would still have to comply with requirements
  which ensure that no risks to public and animal
  health are being introduced into the Community.
• The Commission would have wide legal powers to
  determine the precise requirements which are
  applicable to such imports on the basis of the
  experience gained with the application of the
  current rules

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Evolution of EU law (VI)

• Messages re pet food to be taken from
• Regulation 1829/2003 on genetically modified food
  and feed
• Feed including pet food may only contain
  genetically modified organisms (GMOs) authorised
  for feed use
• 0-tolerance for non-authorised GMOs gt rejection
  at EU Border.
• Ex LL601 rice or MIR604 maize in dried pet
  food

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Evolution of EU law (VII)

• Messages re pet food to be taken from
• Regulation 1831/2003 on feed additives
• Authorisation of feed additives in EU
  differentiating for pets already since decades
• Additives incorporated in pet food must be
  authorised for the respective species
• Register of authorised feed additives regularly
  updated http//ec.europa.eu/food/food/animalnutri
  tion/feedadditives/comm_register_feed_additives_18
  31-03.pdf
• Ex unauthorised feed additive Ethylenediamine
  Dihydroiodide (EDDI) in pet food

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Evolution of EU law (VIII)

• Messages re pet food to be taken from
• Regulation 882/2004 on official controls on feed
  and food
• Controls of EU requirements undertaken by
  competent authority of the MS
• MS notify their multi-annual national control
  plans that are elaborated based on risk
• Import controls for pet food containing animal
  products have to follow veterinary rules (Dir
  97/78/EC)

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Evolution of EU law (IX)

• Messages re pet food to be taken from
• Regulation 183/2005 on feed hygiene
• Registration and approval of EU-establishments
• HACCP in feed businesses
• Industry guides for good hygiene practice
• General import rules still transitional (Art.
  2324 and 6 of 98/51 in comments)
• Member States may only authorise the import from
  third countries from establishments which have
  a representative established within the Community

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Part 5 Creation of new marketing rules
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Need for revision

• Circulation of feed materials and compound feed
  is regulated by 4 main Directives and some 50
  amending or implementing acts.
• Some of the relevant legislative requirements
  date back more than 25 years.
• Evolution of feed legislation focussing on safety
  has been intense ? less attention on the
  conditions for the circulation of feed, e.g.
  concerning marketing conditions, labelling or
  advertising.
• The developments both in the feed business and in
  the legislative environment around the feed
  sector revealed the need to modernise and
  simplify the current law.

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Objectives general and operational

• achieve legal clarity and a harmonised
  implementation,
• facilitate smooth functioning of the internal
  market,
• simplify technical requirements and remove
  unnecessary administrative burden,
• increase competitiveness of the EU feed and
  farming sector,
• enable users of feed to make an informed choice
  without being misled.
• concerning authorisation procedures ensuring
  procedures are proportionate to risk
• for listing feed materials the smooth
  functioning of the internal market by clear
• designations and proper information of the
  customer
• for compound feed labelling for food producing
  animals Increase innovation and
• competitiveness by reducing unnecessary
  labelling requirements
• for pet food labelling Improve the
  appropriateness of the pet food labels to prevent
  
• the purchaser of pet food from being confused
  or misled.
• .

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Scope and definitions

• Scope Feed for ALL animals
• Food producing animal any animal that is fed
  for the production of food for human consumption
  including animals that are not consumed but that
  belong to species that can be normally consumed
  in the Community.
• Non-food producing animals animals kept or
  bred but not used for human consumption such as
  fur animals, pets and animals kept in
  laboratories, zoos or circus.
• Pet or pet animal non-food producing animal
  belonging to species fed , bred or kept, but
  normally not consumed by humans in the Community

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Definitions feed categories (I)

• Compound feed mixture of feed materials,
  whether or not containing feed additives, for
  oral animal feeding in the form of complete or
  complementary feed gt pet food
• Feed intended for particular nutritional
  purposes feed which can satisfy a particular
  nutritional purpose by virtue of its particular
  composition or method of manufacture, which
  clearly distinguish it from ordinary feed. Feed
  intended for particular nutritional purposes does
  not include medicated feedingstuffs in the
  meaning of Directive 90/167/EEC (on dietetic
  feed no big change)
• specific nutritional needs of certain pets
  or productive livestock whose assimilation,
  absorption or metabolism could be temporily
  impaired or is temporily or irreversibly impaired
  and therefore able to derive benefit from
  ingestion of feedstuffs appropriate to their
  condition

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Safety and marketing requirements

• For the purposes of this Regulation, Articles 15
  and 16 of Regulation 178/2002 and Article 4 of
  Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 shall apply, mutatis
  mutandis, to feed for non-food producing animals.
• gt Safety requirements as well for pet food

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Proposal Responsibilities of the feed businesses

• For the purposes of this Regulation, Articles 17,
  18 and 20 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 shall
  apply, mutatis mutandis, to feed for non-food
  producing animals.
• gt Requirements concerning responsibility of the
  operator as well for pet food businesses

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Broad definition of Labelling

• Labelling attribution of any words,
  particulars, trade marks, brand name, pictorial
  matter or symbol to a feed by placing this
  information on any medium like packaging,
  container, notice, label, document, ring, collar
  or the internet referring to or accompanying such
  feed, including for advertising purposes.
• gt Clarification that all type of product
  information is covered

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General labelling rules

• 1. The labelling and the presentation of feed
  shall not mislead the user.
• 3. Where feed is offered for sale by means of
  distance communication as defined in Article 2
  of Directive 97/7/CE, the mandatory
  labelling particulars required by this
  Regulation shall appear on the material supportin
  g the distance selling
• Labelling particularsgivenin at least the
  language or one of the official languages of the
  Member State or Region in which it is placed on
  the market.

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Claims

• 1. The labelling and the presentation of feed may
  draw particular attention provided that the
  following conditions are met
• (a) the claim is objective, verifiable by the
  competent authorities and understandable by the
  user of the feed, and
• (b) a scientific substantiation of the
  truthfulness of the claim (publicly available
  scientific evidence or documented company
  research), shall be available with the
  responsible operator at the time the feed is
  placed on the market. The MS-authority may
  submit the issue of doubtful claims to the
  Commission who may adopt a decision.
• 2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, claims
  concerning optimisation of the nutrition and
  support or protection of the physiological
  conditions are permitted, unless they contain a
  claim mentioned in paragraph (3)(a).
• 3. The labelling shall not claim that
• (a) It will prevent, treat or cure a disease
  this subparagraph, however shall not apply to
  claims concerning nutritional imbalances provided
  that there is no pathological sign associated
• (b) it has a registered particular nutritional
  purpose unless it satisfies the respective
  registered requirements.

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Feed additive labelling pet food

• The following additives shall be listed with
  their specific name and/or their identification
  number, added amount and the respective name of
  the functional group or the category
• (a) additives where a maximum content is set for
  any kind of target species ,
• (b) additives belonging to the categories
  zootechnical additives and coccidiostats and
  histomonostats,
• (c) additives belonging to the functional group
  of urea and its derivatives of the category
  nutritional additives.
• By way of derogation from this paragraph, for
  additives of the functional groups
  preservatives, antioxidants and colourants
  only the respective functional group may be the
  indicated. In this case the information pursuant
  to paragraph 1 shall be disclosed by the person
  responsible for the labelling to the purchaser on
  his request.

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Specific mandatory labelling requirements for
compound feed (I)

• the labelling of compound feed shall also
  include the following
• (d) the indication of the minimum storage life
• the list of the feed materials of which the feed
  is composed, bearing the heading composition
  and indicating the name of each feed material and
  listing those feed materials in descending order
  by weight that list may include the percentage
  of weight.
• Mandatory nutrient labelling petfood - Protein
• - Dietary fibres
• - Crude oils and fats
• - Crude ash
• .

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Specific mandatory labelling requirements for
compound feed (II)

• 2. As regards the list provided for in paragraph
  1(e), the following requirements shall apply
• (c) in the case of compound feed intended for
  non-food producing animals, the indication of the
  specific name of the feed material may be
  replaced by the name of the category to which the
  feed material belongs to.

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Additional labelling requirements for pet food

• On the label of pet food a free telephone number
  or other appropriate means of communication shall
  be indicated in order to allow the purchaser to
  obtain information in addition to the mandatory
  particulars on
• (a) the feed additives incorporated into the pet
  food,
• (b) the feed materials incorporated that are
  designated by category.

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Pet food in multipacks

• For quantities of pet food sold in packages with
  several containers, certain particulars may be
  given only on the outer package instead of each
  container, provided that the combined total
  quantity of the package does not exceed 10 kg.

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Market transparency on feed materials

• 1. The Community Catalogue of feed materials
  shall be created as a tool to improve the
  labelling of feed materials and compound feed.
  The Catalogue shall facilitate the exchange of
  information on the product properties and list
  the feed materials in a non-exhaustive manner.
• The first entries in the Catalogue shall be those
  listed in Part B of the Annex to Directive
  96/25/EC and the Annex to Directive 82/471/EEC.
• The placing on the market of a feed material that
  is not listed in the Catalogue shall immediately
  be notified to the representatives of the
  European feed business sectors who shall publish
  a register of these notifications on the Internet.

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Community Codes of good labelling practice

• 1. The Commission shall encourage the development
  of two Community Codes of good labelling
  practice, one for pet food and one for compound
  feed for food producing animals.
• 2. The Codes shall aim at improving the
  appropriateness of the labelling. They shall, in
  particular, include provisions on the
  presentation of the mandatory labelling
  particulars, on the voluntary labelling and on
  the use of claims.

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Establishment of the Catalogue and Codes

• 1. Catalogue and Codes shall be developed by all
  appropriate representatives of European feed
  business sectors
• (a) in consultation with other concerned parties,
  such as feed users
• (b) in collaboration with the competent
  authorities of the Member States and, where
  appropriate, the Authority
• 2. Generally, Catalogue and Codes are to be
  approved by the Commission with the advisory
  procedure.
• If in the Catalogue maximum contents of chemical
  impurities, levels of botanical purity or
  mandatory constituent labelling particulars are
  set, the regulatory procedure with scrutiny has
  to be applied.

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State of play

• EP-plenary voted overwhelmingly in favour on 5
  Feb 2009
• Formal approval by AG-Council probably in April
  2009
• Publication late spring 2009

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Part 7 Résumé

• Pet food since long fully integrated into
  EU-legislation
• Legislation considers special status of pets
• New proposal for marketing Regulation closes gaps
  re responsibility of the feed business operator
• Better focus on difference between marketing of
  pet food and feed for food producing animals
• Wide definition of labelling includes
  advertisement (brochures, flyers ) in all media
  including the internet.
• Provisions on claims will improve control
  possibilities for Member states authorities

Thank you for your attention