Compound feedingstuffs: marketing, tracing, labelling (amend. Directive 79/373/EEC)

The Conciliation Committee reached agreement on the proposed new rules for labelling the ingredients of compound feedingstuffs. Under the compromise, mandatory labelling will show the exact percentage, by weight, of each ingredient in a sack of animal feed rather than in percentage bands. The percentage recorded on the label or packaging leaflet will be subject to a tolerance level, or margin, of +/- 15% but manufacturers will be legally bound to supply farmers with the precise figure, excluding any margin of error, on request. The Commission will review the tolerance level three years after the directive is implemented under national legislation in the Member States. Parliament and Council also agreed that the Commission would issue a proposal, on the basis of a feasibility study, for a legally binding "positive list" of authorised feed materials, by 31 December 2002. �