Brussels, 08/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Commission proposes that, in future, all eggs marketed in the Union - whether produced in the Community or imported - should be subject to compulsory labeling indicating how the hens that laid them were farmed. Franz Fischler, European Commissioner for Agriculture, declared: "consumers are daily more concerned at the way eggs have been produced. This proposal reflects our determination to provide them with a maximum of information. This system of labeling will strengthen the rules on animal welfare that we decided on last year to protect laying hens".
Here, for each category of egg, is what the proposal provides for:
- category A eggs: compulsory indication of the method of farming will figure on the eggs ("free-range", "open air", "ground", "hen house", "battery") and on large or small packaging. The exact wording of the labels will be determined in the implementing modalities of the Council decision, once it has been adopted.
- imported eggs: to avoid any misleading indication, affixing of a distinctive mark or code on eggs produced in third countries will only be authorised if there are sufficient guarantees of equivalence with Community rules and standards. Should that not be the case, imported eggs will have a label with the words "method of farming unknown" or the indication of the country of origin.
- category B eggs: a new category B, created for eggs earmarked for industry, will replace both the current category B ("second quality eggs" or "conserved eggs" which represents a small share of eggs sold in the Union) and category C (declassified eggs earmarked for industry), so as to simplify the system of marketing. These category B eggs, except for cracked egg, will have a distinctive mark indicating their category according to the rules that currently apply to category B and C eggs: company mark, distinctive number of the packaging centre, quality category and weight category, number of eggs, minimum date of durability and appropriate recommendations concerning storage, indication of the conditions of refrigeration/conservation when it is a question of category B eggs (refrigerated or conserved), date of packaging for eggs belonging to the other categories and for imported eggs.
