(1)

In its communication of 20 May 2020 entitled ‘A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system’ (2), the Commission announced the revision of marketing standards to provide for the uptake and supply of sustainable agricultural products and to reinforce the role of sustainability criteria taking into account the possible impact of these standards on food loss and waste. Within this context the existing egg marketing standards should also be modified taking into account technical developments and consumer demand and the evolution of avian influenza as risk factor for producers of free range eggs.

(2)

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 repealed and replaced Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (3). Part II, Title II, Chapter I, Section 1, of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down rules on marketing standards for eggs, without introducing any substantial change, and empowers the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts in that respect. In order to ensure the smooth functioning of the eggs market in the new legal framework, certain rules have to be adopted by means of such acts. This Regulation and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2466 (4) should replace Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 (5), which should therefore be repealed.

(3)

In order to allow for the smooth functioning of the eggs market, marketing standards for eggs should cover the classification criteria, the preservation and handling, the marking and packing requirements, the use of optional reserved terms, the tolerance levels, as well as the conditions for imports and exports. Since all these aspects are closely interlinked, the rules on marketing standards for eggs should be maintained as a coherent set of rules, and therefore be laid down in one delegated act.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (6) and Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 (7) of the European Parliament and of the Council apply to eggs. Since they are relevant in the area of eggs marketing standards and in order to ensure coherence, reference should be made to the extent possible to those horizontal Regulations.

(5)

Council Directive 1999/74/EC (8) established principles on keeping hens in different farming systems. Since its provisions are linked to eggs marketing standards, and in order to ensure coherence, reference should be made to the extent possible to that Directive.

(6)

The quality characteristics for Class A eggs should be fixed in order to guarantee the high quality of eggs to be delivered directly to the final consumer and to set criteria that can be checked by inspection services. Such quality characteristics should be based on Standard No 42 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) concerning the marketing and commercial quality controls of eggs-in-shell moving in international trade between and to UN/ECE member countries.

(7)

In general, eggs should not be washed or cleaned because such practices can cause damage to the egg shell, which is an effective barrier to bacterial ingress with an array of antimicrobial properties. Moreover, Class A eggs should not be washed because of the potential damage to the physical barriers, such as the cuticle, which can occur during or after washing. Such damage may favour trans-shell contamination with bacteria and moisture loss and thereby increase the risk to consumers, particularly if subsequent drying and storage conditions are not optimal.

(8)

However, some practices, such as the treatment of eggs with ultra-violet rays, should not be interpreted as constituting a cleaning process. However, egg-washing systems subject to authorisation and operating under carefully controlled conditions are used in some Member States with good results. According to the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority, Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards on the request from the Commission related to the Microbiological risks on washing of table eggs adopted on 7 September 2005 (9), the egg-washing practice as performed in certain packing centres can be sustained from a hygienic standpoint, provided, inter alia, that a code of practice for egg-washing systems is developed.

(9)

Class A eggs should be graded by weight. A limited number of weight grades and corresponding clear terms should therefore be fixed as well as minimum labelling requirements, which do not rule out additional voluntary labelling, provided the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10) are met.

(10)

Only undertakings whose premises and technical equipment are suited to the scale and type of their operations, and which therefore allow eggs to be handled properly, should be authorised, as packing centres, to grade eggs by quality and weight.

(11)

In order to ensure the freshness of the eggs, maximum time limits for the grading, marking and packing of eggs and the marking of packs should be fixed.

(12)

In addition to the general obligation to establish traceability of food, feed, food-producing animals, and any other substance intended to be, or expected to be, incorporated into food or feed at all stages of production, processing and distribution in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11), for the purpose of carrying out checks, the information to be indicated on transport packaging containing eggs and on accompanying documents, should be laid down.

(13)

The marking of eggs with the producer code at the production site is essential where eggs are delivered to another Member State. With regard to Class B eggs in particular, it should be specified that if the producer code alone does not clearly indicate the quality grading, Class B eggs should be marked with another indication.

(14)

The characteristics of the other possible indications for marking Class B eggs as referred to in Part VI, Point III(1), second subparagraph, of Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be defined.

(15)

When eggs are delivered directly to the food industry for processing and there is sufficient guarantee of their final destination, Member States may grant exceptions from the marking requirement to operators who so request provided that eggs are delivered directly from the production site to the food industry.

(16)

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 lays down rules of a general nature applicable to all foodstuffs put on the market. However, some specific marking requirements should be provided for packs of eggs.

(17)

The terms for the identification of the farming method as well as the minimum requirements for systems of production for the various egg farming methods should be laid down.

(18)

Where eggs are sold with an optional reserved term highlighting the particular freshness of the egg, a maximum time limit should be fixed for such indications.

(19)

Where eggs are sold indicating the particular feed formula fed to the laying hens, minimum requirements for the use of such indications should be laid down.

(20)

When eggs are sold loose, certain information normally on the pack should be accessible to the consumer.

(21)

In addition to the general hygiene requirements for the wrapping and packaging of foodstuffs, some additional requirements should be laid down in order to minimise the risk of deterioration or contamination of eggs during storage and transport. Such standards should be based on UN/ECE Standard No 42.

(22)

Industrial eggs are unfit for human consumption. Special bands or labels should therefore be required for the easy identification of packaging containing such eggs.

(23)

Third countries may have requirements different from those fixed for the Union for the marketing of eggs. In order to facilitate exports, eggs packed and intended for export outside the Union should be allowed to conform to such requirements.

(24)

Details should be fixed regarding the assessment of the equivalence of third-country marketing standards with Union legislation to be conducted by the Commission at the request of third countries. Rules on marking and labelling requirements for eggs imported from third countries should be laid down.

(25)

Certain tolerances should be allowed when checking compliance with the marketing standards. Such tolerances should differ according to the different marketing stages.

(26)

Egg supply for the retail trade in the French overseas departments relies partly on the supply of eggs from the European continent because local production is still not sufficient to cover demand. In view of the duration of transport and of climatic conditions, the preservation of eggs transported to the French overseas departments presupposes the fulfilment of specific supply arrangements, including the possibility to dispatch eggs chilled. These special arrangements can be justified by the lack of sufficient local egg production capacities. Until sufficient local production capacities are built up, these exceptional arrangements should be maintained.

(27)

In order to take account of the specific conditions of egg marketing in certain remote regions in Finland, sales from producers to retail outlets in those regions should be exempted from the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and of this Regulation,

(a)

the classification criteria;

(b)

the preservation and handling;

(c)

the marking and packing requirements;

(d)

the use of optional reserved terms;

(e)

the tolerance levels;

(f)

the conditions for imports and exports.

(a)

‘pack’ means a wrapping containing Class A or Class B eggs, excluding transport packaging and containers of industrial eggs;

(b)

‘loose egg sales’ means the offer for retail sale of eggs to the final consumer, other than in packs;

(c)

‘collector’ means any establishment registered in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 to collect eggs from a producer for delivery to a packing centre, to a market selling exclusively to wholesalers whose undertakings are approved as packing centres, or to the food or non-food industry;

(d)

‘food industry’ means any establishment producing egg products intended for human consumption, excluding mass caterers;

(e)

‘non-food industry’ means any business producing products containing eggs not intended for human consumption;

(f)

‘mass caterers’ means the establishments referred to in Article 2(2), point (d), of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011;

(g)

‘eggs’ means eggs in shell – other than broken, incubated or cooked eggs – that are produced by hens of the Gallus gallus species and are fit for direct human consumption or for the preparation of egg products;

(h)

‘broken eggs’ means eggs showing breaks of both the shell and the membranes, resulting in the exposure of their contents;

(i)

‘incubated eggs’ means eggs from the time of insertion in the incubator onwards;

(j)

‘industrial eggs’ means eggs not intended for human consumption;

(k)

‘batch’ means the eggs in packs or loose from one and the same production site or packing centre, situated in one place, with one and the same laying date or date of minimum durability or packing date, the same farming method and, in case of graded eggs, the same quality and weight grading;

(l)

‘repacking’ means the physical transfer of eggs to another pack or the re-marking of a pack containing eggs;

(m)

‘marketing’ means holding eggs for the purpose of sale, including offering for sale, storage, packing, labelling, delivery, or any other form of transfer, whether free of charge or not;

(n)

‘operator’ means a producer and any other natural or legal person involved in the marketing of eggs;

(o)

‘production site’ means an establishment keeping laying hens, registered in accordance with Commission Directive 2002/4/EC (12);

(p)

‘packing centre’ means a packing centre within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 that is authorised in accordance with Article 3(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2466 and where eggs are graded by quality and weight;

(q)

‘final consumer’ means the ultimate consumer of a foodstuff who will not use the food as part of any food business operation or activity;

(r)

‘producer code’ means the distinguishing number of the production site according to point 2 of the Annex to Directive 2002/4/EC.

(a)

reference may be made to cereals as a feed ingredient only where they account for at least 60 % in weight of the feed formula given, of which no more than 15 % of cereal by-products may be part;

(b)

without prejudice to the minimum of 60 % referred to in point (a), where reference is made to a specific cereal, it shall account for at least 30 % of the feed formula used. If specific reference is made to more than one cereal, each shall account for at least 5 % of the feed formula.

(a)

the quality grading;

(b)

the weight grading in accordance with Article 5;

(c)

an indication of the farming method as laid down in Article 11(2);

(d)

an explanation of the meaning of the producer code;

(e)

the date of minimum durability.

(a)

the name and address of the operator for whom the eggs are intended;

(b)

the name and address of the operator who has dispatched the eggs;

(c)

the words ‘industrial eggs’ in capital letters 2 cm high, and the words ‘unsuitable for human consumption’ in letters at least 8 mm high.