Council Minutes, 15 November 2002
The following is an extract from the minutes of the Council Meeting for Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research) held on the 14/15 November 2002. The item was agreed without debate
The Council reached a political agreement by qualified majority, with the Austrian delegation voting against, on the amended proposal for a directive regarding indication of the ingredients present in foodstuffs. A common position will be adopted at a forthcoming meeting, and forwarded to the European Parliament for a second reading under the co-decision procedure.
The proposal, which amends directive 2000/13/EC on the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs, is aimed at improving consumers information, in particular by indication of allergenic ingredients. The agreed text mentions that the indication of the list of ingredients is not compulsory where the compound ingredient constitutes less than 2% of the finished product, as opposed to 5% in the initial proposal. Under current legislation (directive 79/112/EEC amended by directive 2000/13/EC) the list of the ingredients is not compulsory where the compound ingredient constitutes less than 25% of the finished product, except in the case of additives.