On 17 August, the European Commission adopted a delegated act on marketing standards for eggs, requiring eggs to be marked at the farm to improve product traceability.
Where it is not possible to mark cracked or soiled eggs, marking the producer code will not be compulsory.
The 2013 Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulations stipulate that eggs must be marked “at the production site or at the first packing centre to which the eggs are delivered”.
The text (https://aeur.eu/f/8cb ) also provides for stricter rules on egg packaging and checks to be carried out by Member States to ensure compliance with egg marketing standards.
Only packing centres have the premises and technical equipment needed to repack eggs. The text therefore limits repackaging operations to these centres. Producers, egg collectors and packing centres will have to keep records to enable the inspection services to monitor compliance with marketing standards.
There are over 350 million laying hens in the EU, producing around 6.7 million tonnes of eggs a year.
This update of the rules for eggs was announced by the European Commission when it presented its proposal on marketing standards (see EUROPE 13167/1). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)