(1)

Taking into consideration the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of ensuring a fair income for farmers and of responding to the demands of society for food and health, the growing consumer demand for organic products is an opportunity for further expansion of the pet food sector and for an increase in the income of farmers engaged in organic production. Acknowledging the fact that the pet food sector has a role to play in contributing to the objectives of the European Green Deal, as well as recognising the new labelling measures provided for in this Regulation and the uniform use of the organic production logo of the European Union, should help to develop and promote the pet food sector, both through the sale of products to consumers who are mindful of the organic content of the products they buy and through the opportunity to bring about added value to organic by-products and co-products. The pet food sector should thus be able to contribute, albeit modestly, to achieving an increase in Union agricultural land under organic farming by 2030, as envisaged in the Commission Communication of 19 April 2021 on an Action Plan for the development of organic production.

(2)

Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) lays down rules on organic production and labelling of organic products. That Regulation applies both to feed for food-producing animals and to feed for pets, namely pet food. Under that Regulation, non-organic ingredients of agricultural origin may be authorised for all types of organic feed, while a term referring to organic production cannot be used in the sales description where not all of the agricultural ingredients are organic, regardless of the extent to which that is the case. Moreover, such feed cannot bear the organic production logo of the European Union. Consequently, final consumers are not directly informed about the compliance of the product with organic production rules.

(3)

Operators are informed about the composition and the proportion of organic, in-conversion and non-organic ingredients in compound feed in accordance with point 2.1.2 of Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2018/848. By contrast, when feed is sold directly at retail level to final consumers, there are currently no rules concerning the provision of information on the organic ingredients in compound feed where not all of the agricultural ingredients are organic. The presence of non-organic agricultural ingredients is particularly relevant for pet food. Final consumers should be appropriately informed about the composition of pet food containing both organic and non-organic agricultural ingredients, thus enabling consumer confidence and fair competition between operators in the pet food sector.

(4)

Prior to the application of Regulation (EU) 2018/848, and in accordance with Article 95(5) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 (4), certain Member States had established national rules or recognised private standards that allowed the use of a term referring to organic production in the sales description of pet food when at least 95 % of the agricultural ingredients of the product by weight were organic, mirroring the rules for organic processed food.

(5)

For the purposes of consumer information, consistency and transparency in the market, and to stimulate the use of organic ingredients, it should also be made possible to refer, under certain conditions, to organic production in the sales description and in the list of ingredients of pet food. The labelling rules for organic pet food at Union level should therefore mirror those for organic food, given that both categories of products are mainly sold at retail level to final consumers.

(6)

For that reason, it is appropriate to provide for labelling requirements for pet food which constitute other specific Union law relating to the placing of products on the market for the purposes of Article 2(5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/848. Given that pet food is feed for a specific category of animals, the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 which apply to feed should remain applicable to pet food, in particular those on production, certification, control, marketing, and trade with third countries.

(7)

Information on compliance with organic production rules should be provided through the terms referring to organic production in the sales description and in the list of ingredients, as well as through the use of the organic production logo of the European Union. In order to facilitate awareness about compliance with organic production rules, the organic production logo of the European Union should be obligatory for all prepacked pet food complying with Regulation (EU) 2018/848 and with this Regulation and produced within the Union, as is the case for prepacked food pursuant to Article 32(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2018/848.

(8)

In order to promote the further development of the pet food sector, it is appropriate to introduce specific provisions on the labelling of organic pet food, on the use of terms referring to organic production in the sales description and in the list of ingredients, and on the use of the organic production logo of the European Union. Special labelling provisions should also be laid down to allow final consumers to identify the organic ingredients that are used in products which consist mainly of an ingredient that stems from hunting or fishing, provided that all other agricultural ingredients are organic.

(9)

Operators continued after 1 January 2022 to label pet food in accordance with national rules or private standards due to the restricted availability under organic form of certain necessary agricultural ingredients such as certain feed materials and feed additives to enhance the palatability of pet food, or to guarantee nutritional value. It is therefore appropriate to allow the exhaustion of stocks of products which have been labelled in accordance with those national rules or with those private standards accepted or recognised by the Member States in accordance with Article 95(5) of Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 between 1 January 2022 and the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

(10)

It is appropriate to provide for a deferred date of application of the obligation to use the organic production logo of the European Union on the labelling of prepacked pet food in order to enable operators to prepare fully for the application of the new labelling requirements.

(11)

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the adoption of uniform rules for the labelling of organic pet food, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective,

(1)

‘pet food’ means feed within the meaning of Article 3, point (46), of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 which is intended for pets as defined in Article 3(2), point (f), of Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5);

(2)

‘prepacked pet food’ means any single item of pet food for presentation as such to the final consumer, consisting of pet food and the packaging into which it was put before being offered for sale, whether such packaging encloses the pet food completely or only partially, but in any event in such a way that the contents cannot be altered without opening or changing the packaging; ‘prepacked pet food’ does not cover pet food which is packed on the sales premises at the final consumer’s request or pet food which is prepacked for direct sale.