Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1907/90 of 26 June 1990 on certain marketing standards for eggs^f1 and in particular Articles 5(3), 7(1)(d), 10(3), 20(1) and 22(2) thereof,

Whereas:

The experience gained in applying Commission Regulation (EC) No 2295/2003^f2 shows that adjustments should be made to certain provisions of that Regulation.

The work of collectors involves collecting eggs from production sites and delivering them to packing centres and other establishments, including undertakings in the food and non-food industries. It should be specified which establishments such deliveries may be made to.

The quality of eggs depends in part on how quickly they are collected from the production site and delivered to the packing centre. The fact that operators use different collecting and delivery procedures must not result in certain forms of organisation having an advantage over others. It is therefore necessary to specify the time limits applicable to the different practices used.

The Community rules distinguish between operators according to the conditions in which they handle livestock products and do not require establishments to be approved where they merely engage in storage and transport operations not calling for controlled temperatures. Accordingly, collectors who simply transport eggs between the production site and the establishment which is to handle the eggs should be required only to register; detailed rules should be laid down regarding approval and separate formalities should be introduced for registering this category of collectors.

Because eggs lose water and weight between the time they are laid and the date on which they are sold to the end consumer, it should be specified that the total net weight indicated when the eggs are packed must correspond at least to the total net weight of the eggs when they are sold to the end consumer.

Grade A eggs may be delivered to the industry without having been graded by weight. The distinguishing marking ‘Grade A eggs’ should therefore be applied to containers delivered to the establishments concerned.

The marking of eggs and packs as provided for in Articles 7 and 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/90 may be done on different dates. Those dates should be specified.

In order to prevent fraud in the use of exclusive contracts as referred to in Article 8(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2295/2003, the Member States should be free to fix a minimum duration of more than one month for such contracts.

In order to ensure proper traceability for eggs transferred from one packing centre to another, the first packing centre should be required to stamp the eggs before they are delivered to the second.

The provisions of Article 12(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2295/2003 on grading, packing and delivery to another packing centre cause some confusion and duplicate Article 2. They should therefore be deleted.

So that eggs are marked in the same way irrespective of rearing method, use of the codes set out in point 2.1. of the Annex to Commission Directive 2002/4/EC of 30 January 2002 on the registration of establishments keeping laying hens covered by Council Directive 1999/74/EC^f3 should be allowed in all cases.

In order to inform consumers of the meaning of the distinguishing number of the producer and the codes used where eggs are sold in bulk, it must be made compulsory to provide an explanation on large packs and other packs, such as those covered with plastic film, or on a separate notice.

To inform consumers in cases where eggs are sold as ‘washed eggs’ or ‘chilled eggs’, the eggs must be marked so they can be distinguished from eggs marketed as grade A eggs, while requiring that such eggs also bear the other markings required for grade A eggs.

Non-marking of eggs intended for industry might give rise to fraud involving batches of eggs infringing Community rules being placed on the market for retail sale. Restrictions should be placed on the derogations permitted for such deliveries.

In line with the Community's international obligations, grade B eggs imported from third countries are exempt from the marking requirements. However, given the risk of fraud inherent in such trade on the internal market, surveillance measures should be put in place to ensure that the products reach the correct final destination.

In the case of eggs imported from third countries, Community legislation provides for the recognition of the standards applied in certain third countries in accordance with Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs^f4. Such eggs should be marked directly in the country of origin concerned, under the same conditions as those provided for in the Community.

In order to rationalise the presentation of the measures on the recording of information to be provided by the different categories of economic operators, the obligations provided for in Articles 25, 26 and 27 of Regulation (EC) No 2295/2003 should be grouped by category of operator and by type of obligation.

Article 6(4) of Regulation (EEC) No 1907/90 provides that certain packing centres may be approved for washing eggs. The notification containing the list of packing centres must therefore also contain this specific additional information.

Certain derogations from the minimum requirements applicable to production systems remain in force until the dates specified in Article 4 of Council Directive 1999/74/EC of 19 July 1999 laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens^f5. However, those derogations may not concern obligations imposed by Community legislation applicable previously, in particular the minimum requirements set out in points (c) and (d) of Annex II to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1274/91 of 15 May 1991 introducing detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1907/90 on certain marketing standards for eggs^f6 before the amendment made by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1651/2001^f7.

For linguistic reasons, certain Greek synonyms equivalent to the terms to be used to indicate rearing methods for laying hens should be added in column 2 of Annex II.

Regulation (EC) No 2295/2003 should be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Poultrymeat and Eggs,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: