EU labelling boost for organic pet food
Cats - Image by Florian Bollmann from Pixabay
(BRUSSELS) - The EU Parliament and Council reached provisional agreement Tuesday on the labelling of organic pet food, to make it easier for consumers in the EU to buy organic food for their pets.
Under the new regulation, pet food will qualify for the EU's organic production logo if 95% of its agricultural ingredients are organic, in line with the standards applied to food intended for human consumption. The new rules maintain the EU's high standards for organic products while ensuring that pet-food producers are not prevented from using the organic label due to excessively strict criteria.
The regulation also makes it easier for consumers to identify organic ingredients in the pet food they buy. This includes agricultural ingredients in pet food that mostly contains products from hunting and fishing.
The deal resolves an issue that has existed since early 2022, when new, EU-wide criteria came into force that required agricultural ingredients in processed animal feed to be 100% organic in order to qualify for the organic label. This requirement was impossible for many pet-food producers to satisfy due to a lack of availability of appropriate organic ingredients.
The regulation aligns the rules for organic pet food with those of food produced for human consumption, which set the minimum level for organic agricultural ingredients at 95%. This approach also reflects the concern that many owners feel for their pets' health and nutrition.
By removing the need for 100% of agricultural ingredients to be certified as organic, the new rules eliminate a crucial barrier to organic production, making it more feasible for pet-food producers to satisfy the requirements for organic labelling. This means that more producers will be able to enter the organic market, increasing the availability of organic pet food and contributing to the EU's organic farming goals under the Farm to Fork Strategy.
EU member states' representatives will now be asked to approve the agreement reached with the Parliament at an upcoming meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture. The text of the regulation will then undergo legal and linguistic revision before being adopted by ministers at a forthcoming Council meeting.