Article 26U.K.Country of origin or place of provenance
1.This Article shall apply without prejudice to labelling requirements provided for in specific Union provisions, in particular Council Regulation (EC) No 509/2006 of 20 March 2006 on agricultural products and foodstuffs as traditional specialties guaranteed(1) and Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 of 20 March 2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs(2).
2.Indication of the country of origin or place of provenance shall be mandatory:
(a)where failure to indicate this might mislead the consumer as to the true country of origin or place of provenance of the food, in particular if the information accompanying the food or the label as a whole would otherwise imply that the food has a different country of origin or place of provenance;
(b)for meat falling within the Combined Nomenclature (‘CN’) codes listed in Annex XI. The application of this point shall be subject to the adoption of implementing acts referred to in paragraph 8.
3.Where the country of origin or the place of provenance of a food is given and where it is not the same as that of its primary ingredient:
(a)the country of origin or place of provenance of the primary ingredient in question shall also be given; or
(b)the country of origin or place of provenance of the primary ingredient shall be indicated as being different to that of the food.
The application of this paragraph shall be subject to the adoption of the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 8.
4.Within 5 years from the date of application of point (b) of paragraph 2, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council to evaluate the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for products referred to in that point.
5.By 13 December 2014, the Commission shall submit reports to the European Parliament and the Council regarding the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for the following foods:
(a)types of meat other than beef and those referred to in point (b) of paragraph 2;
(b)milk;
(c)milk used as an ingredient in dairy products;
(d)unprocessed foods;
(e)single ingredient products;
(f)ingredients that represent more than 50 % of a food.
6.By 13 December 2013, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council regarding the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for meat used as an ingredient.
7.The reports referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6 shall take into account the need for the consumer to be informed, the feasibility of providing the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance and an analysis of the costs and benefits of the introduction of such measures, including the legal impact on the internal market and the impact on international trade.
The Commission may accompany those reports with proposals to modify the relevant Union provisions.
8.By 13 December 2013, following impact assessments, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts concerning the application of point (b) of paragraph 2 of this Article and the application of paragraph 3 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 48(2).
9.In the case of foods referred to in point (b) of paragraph 2, in point (a) of paragraph 5 and in paragraph 6, the reports and the impact assessments under this Article shall consider, inter alia, the options for the modalities of expressing the country of origin or place of provenance of those foods, in particular with respect to each of the following determining points in the life of the animal:
(a)place of birth;
(b)place of rearing;
(c)place of slaughter.