THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ( 1 ),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ( 2 ),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee ( 3 ),

Whereas feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes are playing an increasing role in the diet of pet animals; whereas such products are also used in the rearing of productive livestock;

Whereas, in some Member States, feedingstuffs covered by this Directive are already marketed in such a way as to draw the attention of users to their particular composition;

Whereas a common definition should be laid down for the products concerned; whereas that definition must provide that products presented as intended to meet certain specific nutritional needs must have a specific composition and/or be manufactured using special methods; whereas it is essential to establish the principle that such feedingstuffs must be clearly distinguished, in their characteristics and purpose, from both ordinary feedingstufffs and medicated feedingstuffs;

Whereas the composition and preparation of feedingsuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes must be specially designed to meet the particular nutritional needs of categories of pets or productive livestock whose process of assimilation, absorption or metabolism could briefly be impaired or is temporarily or irreversibly impaired;

Whereas, when rules are being laid down for the marketing of feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes, care should be taken to ensure that such feedingstuffs have a beneficial effect on the animals which ingest them; whereas feedingstuffs must therefore always be of merchantable quality; whereas they must neither present a hazard for animal or human health or for the environment nor be marketed in a manner liable to mislead;

Whereas this Directive applies without prejudice to other Community provisions on feedingstuffs, and particularly the rules applicable to compound feedingstuffs;

Whereas the user of feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes needs to be provided with accurate and meaningful information;

Whereas in order to distinguish between the feedingstuffs meeting the criteria laid down in this Directive and other feedingstuffs, a single qualifying expression, ‘dietetic’, must accompany the description of the feedingstuff;

Whereas, as in the case of ordinary feedingstuffs, at least the levels of analytical constituents having a direct effect on the quality of the feedingstuff should be declared; whereas provision should be made for the declaration of certain additional analytical constituents which give the feedingstuff its dietetic properties;

Whereas all producers of feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes must have the option of indicating on the label certain particulars useful to the user;

Whereas it is not necessary for the supply of feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes to be subject to presentation of a veterinary prescription since these products contain no medicinal substances within the meaning of Council Directive 65/65/EEC of 26 January 1965 on the approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to proprietary medicinal products ( 4 ), but, to ensure the appropriate use of feedingstuffs with a very specific character, the user should be warned that it is desirable to seek a specialist's opinion before using them;

Whereas, however, for feedingstuffs designed to satisfy the nutritional requirements of animals with irreversibly impaired processes of assimilation, absorption or metabolism or which are in a pathological state requiring medical supervision, the possibility should be provided of laying down additional labelling rules which provide that a recommendation shall be given to the user to request the prior opinion of a veterinarian instead of the general recommendation to consult a specialist;

Whereas a positive list should also be drawn up at Community level of the intended uses of animal feedingstuffs for particular nutritional purposes, indicating their precise use, essential nutritional characteristics, compulsory or optional declarations and special labelling requirements; whereas, bearing in mind the importance of this list for the implementation of this Directive, such list should be adopted in good time;

Whereas the marketing of feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes which satisfy the requirements of this Directive must not be subject to any restriction on grounds of content, methods of manufacture, presentation or labelling;

Whereas, in cases where a product presents a hazard to animal or human health or the environment, provision should be made for any Member State to request that the Commission take the appropriate measures, on justified grounds;

Whereas, for cases where the Council empowers the Commission to apply the rules laid down in respect of feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes, a procedure should be provided for close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission in the Standing Committee on Feedingstuffs set up by Council Decision 70/372/EEC ( 5 );

Whereas effective inspection of feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes must be ensured; whereas in certain circumstances the usual means at the disposal of the inspection services amy be insufficient to allow verification that a feedingstuff actually possesses the particular nutritional properties attributed to it; whereas it should therefore be provided that, where necessary, the person responsible for marketing the product should assist the inspection service in its duties,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: