Organic pet food: Council adopts updated labelling rules
The Council gave its final green light on a new EU law that will align the rules regarding the labelling of organic pet food to those governing the labelling of organic food intended for human consumption.
The new regulation will make it easier for pet owners to purchase organic food for their pets. It also provides an opportunity for farmers engaged in organic production.
Pets are an important part of our lives and our families. With these new and updated rules, it will be easier for pet owners to buy organic food for their pets. At the same time, the regulation will make it easier for producers to enter the organic pet food market and will improve certainty for EU consumers.
Luis Planas Puchades - acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain
Greater certainty for consumers
Under the new regulation, pet food can be labelled with the EU organic production logo if 95% of its agricultural ingredients are organic. This is in line with the rules for organic food intended for human consumption and reflects the EU’s high standards for organic products.
The regulation also makes it easier for consumers to identify organic ingredients in the pet food they buy, and makes the EU organic production logo mandatory for prepacked organic pet food.
Improved market access for producers
Since 1 January 2022, the date of application of the EU regulation on organic production, pet food can only be labelled as organic if all its agricultural ingredients are organic. The new regulation amends this to 95% (in terms of weight). This will make it more feasible for pet food producers to satisfy organic labelling requirements and to enter the market. This is in line with the Farm to Fork Strategy goal of boosting organic production so it can reach 25% of the EU's agricultural land use by 2030.
To ensure stability for producers, organic pet food that was labelled in accordance with national rules or in line with private standards between 1 January 2022 and the date of entry into force of the regulation can still be sold until stocks are exhausted.
In addition, pet food producers now have 6 months before they are required to place the EU organic logo on their products.
Background
Prior to 2022, the requirements for organic pet food were generally set at national level. This meant that pet food could be labelled as organic even if not all the ingredients came from organic production.
This changed under regulation 2018/848, which has applied since January 2022 and which stipulates that processed animal feed can be labelled as organic only if 100% of its agricultural ingredients and at least 95% of its dry ingredients are organic.
However, while these rules are appropriate for feed for production animals, they are not suitable for pet food. Owing to the restricted availability in organic form of some ingredients, such as certain feed materials to enhance the palatability of pet food, it was impossible for most producers of organic pet food to fulfil the rules.
On 28 November 2022, the Commission adopted its proposal for a regulation on the labelling of organic pet food. The regulation is designed to clarify the situation for producers and consumers by establishing specific labelling rules for pet food.
The Council improved the proposal by adding transitional periods to allow for producers to adapt to the new rules. The Council also ensured that products labelled in accordance with the previous rules or private standards can continue to be sold until stocks are exhausted.
The Council and the Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the proposal on 6 June 2023.
The regulation was adopted today by the Council and it will enter into force three days after its publication in the Official Journal. Pet food producers will have 6 months from that date before they are required to place the EU organic production logo on their products.