The new marketing rules for pet

food in the European Union:

Safe – transparent – modern

Dr. Wolfgang TRUNK

European Commission
DG SANCO

1
 Part 1

The European Union (EU)

2
Part 1 - The European Union

27
Member
States
(MS)

3
Candidate
Countries

3
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 € (1€=1,3$),
growth rate 3% p.a.

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 Part 1 - The European Union

European Institutions

Institutional Triangle: Decision Makers

European
Council of the EU European Council
Commission

European
Parliament
European Court of
Advisory Committees Justice
Economic & Social Committee of the European Court of
Committee Regions 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 –
SANCO’s 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 11
 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.)
=> weaknesses in the food legislation within the EU.
Response: “White Paper on Food Safety” => 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 11:Food 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 risk
assessment 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:

1. 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)
2. Directive is regularly updated by the Commission based on risk
assessment by EFSA
3. 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:
=>Pet food is the only feed use of meat and bone meal (by-products from
animals fit for human consumption) allowed in the EU
=>Import 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.
=> 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:

1. Feed including pet food may only contain genetically modified

organisms (GMOs) authorised for feed use
2. 0-tolerance for non-authorised GMOs => 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:

1. Authorisation of feed additives in EU differentiating for pets

already since decades
2. Additives incorporated in pet food must be authorised for the
respective species
3. Register of authorised feed additives regularly updated:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/animalnutrition/feedadditives/comm_
register_feed_additives_1831-03.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:

1. Controls of EU requirements undertaken by competent authority of

the MS
2. MS notify their multi-annual national control plans that are
elaborated based on risk
3. 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

1. Registration and approval of EU-establishments

2. HACCP in feed businesses
3. Industry guides for good hygiene practice
4. General import rules still “transitional” (Art. 23+24 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 => 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

1. 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.

=> Safety requirements as well for pet food

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Proposal – Responsibilities of the feed businesses

1. 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.
=> Requirements concerning responsibility of the operator as well for pet
food businesses

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Broad definition of Labelling

(p) ‘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.
=> 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
supporting the distance selling…

Labelling particulars…given…in 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)
1. … the labelling of compound feed shall also include the following:

(d) the indication of the minimum storage life …

(e) 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
3. 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

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