Milk and milk products: common organisation of the markets (CMO), additional general rules for drinking milk

2007/0027(CNS)

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development adopted unanimously the consultation report by Elisabeth JEGGLE (EPP-ED, DE) and made several amendments to the proposal to amend Regulation (EC) No 2597/97 laying down additional rules on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products for drinking milk.

Council Regulation (EC) No 2597/97 currently recognises only three categories of drinking milk that can be produced and marketed in the Community. These are skimmed milk (maximum 0.5% fat), semi-skimmed milk (1.5% to 1.8% fat) and whole milk (at least 3.5% fat). By amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2597/97 the Commission proposes to allow the production and marketing of drinking milk that does not comply with the present three categories in the European Union as long as a clear and easily readable indication of the fat content is present on the label.

To avoid confusion and uncertainty for the consumer, the committee suggests that the milk fat content percentage should be clearly indicated on the packaging directly next to the product description and that there is no real need to include a margin of tolerance of ‘± 0.2%' for the fat content indication.