Food Law News - EU - 1997

16 December 1997: EGGS - EC Egg Marketing Regulations: Proposals for Amendment

MAFF Letter, 16 December 1997

EC Egg Marketing Regulations: Proposals for Amendment

Discussions on revising the special marketing terms criteria (See previous item: 18 July 1997) have been suspended whilst awaiting developments within the welfare arena in Brussels. Meanwhile there has been a draft Commission proposal, discussed at the management Committee on 9 December, to tackle other aspects of the Regulations.

The proposal contains 4 suggested changes:

• The frequency of egg collections to be reduced to once a week when storage temperatures on the farm do not exceed 14°C - This follows a request from Sweden but has not yet been supported by other Member States.
• Use of Special Marketing Terms (SMTs) to be extended to grade B eggs - Again this follows a Swedish request where the current conditions of marketing include washing of eggs. This is not permitted for Grade A eggs but is for Grade B. This would therefore allow for the continuation of the practice after the date (1/1/1998) when the Regulations should enter fully into force in Sweden. Other Member States have expressed concern at this method of allowing washing to continue - if it is appropriate to wash eggs, then the methods should be introduced in an appropriate manner.
• A request from the UK for SMT producers to keep records on farm for at least 6 months following flock depletion with related new requirements concerning record keeping requirements for egg collectors and wholesalers for SMT eggs. This would provide an enhanced audit trail and was generally supported.
• A Commission amendment concerning supervision of bodies responsible for overseeing compliance with schemes concerned with types of farming.

The next meeting of the Management Committee is scheduled for 20 January.