Parliament adopted clear rules for organic pet food

Pet food can be labelled organic if it consists of at least 95 % of organic agricultural ingredients in terms of weight

Current stock of organic pet food can be sold to prevent waste

Pet food from hunting and fishing can be labelled organic

On Tuesday, the Parliament plenary adopted new rules for the labelling of organic pet food.

The regulation, agreed between Parliament and Council negotiators in June, puts labelling of organic pet food in line with labelling of organic food for human consumption. The law was adopted by 592 for to 12 against and 21 abstentions.

Since a new legislative framework for organic products came into force in 2022, pet food could be labelled organic only if all its ingredients came from organic production. National rules for the minimum percentage of organic ingredients in organic pet food were not allowed anymore. The new law lowers the percentage. Pet food will be able to be labelled as organic if at least 95% in terms of weight of its agricultural ingredients are organic.

The European Parliament, led by rapporteur Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, DE), ensured during negotiations with the Council that in order to prevent waste of products and packaging material, current stock of pet food labelled as organic after 1 January 2022 can be sold without adding the new mandatory EU organic logo on the packaging.

MEPs successfully negotiated that producers of organic pet food whose main ingredients stem from hunting and fishing will be able to label their products as organic provided that all agricultural ingredients in the pet food are organic.

Next steps

Once Council approves the law formally, it will enter into force three days after its publication in the EU Official Journal. Thanks for the Parliament negotiators, producers of organic pet food will be guaranteed a transition time. They will be required to place the EU organic logo on their products only six months after the regulation enters into force.

In adopting the new rules, Parliament is responding to citizens' expectations to introduce stricter and harmonised production standards within the EU and a transparent labelling system for all products sold on the EU market regarding their sustainability/environmental footprint, as well as longevity, as expressed in the Proposal 5(1) of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Background

Organic pet food represent 5-6% of market share and an outlet for organic meat cuts that are not being sold as food.