The European Parliament has adopted new rules governing the labelling of organic pet food, which state that a product can only be labelled organic if it consists of at least 95% of organic agricultural ingredients in terms of weight.
Since the adoption of a new legislative framework in 2022, pet food could only be labelled organic if all of its ingredients came from organic production, the European Parliament said in a statement.
This new legislation lowers this percentage, with pet food now able to be labelled as organic if at least 95% in terms of weight of its agricultural ingredients are organic.
Size Of The Market
Organic pet food currently accounts for around 5% to 6% of the overall market, and provides an outlet for organic meat cuts that are not being sold as food.
In line with the new legislation, and in order to prevent waste, the 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.
Once the European Council approves the law formally, it will enter into force three days after its publication in the EU Official Journal.
Producers of organic pet food will be guaranteed a transition time, and 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', the European Parliament said.
