1. INTRODUCTION
Please read this leaflet carefully before completing "Application for Registration of a Packing Centre" form EMR2. This is intended as a general guide to the requirements of EEC law on egg marketing which is applicable in all European Union Member States. It is not a complete and authoritative statement of the law. If you wish to know more about egg marketing legislation, you should refer to the regulations set out below.
1.1 Regulations
The Eggs (Marketing Standards) (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (as amended)
The Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002 (as amended)
The Registration of Establishments Keeping Laying Hens (Scotland) Regulations 2003 (as amended)
1.2 Purpose and Objectives
The Regulations lay down rules which apply throughout the European Community. Minimum standards of quality and weight grading, marking, packaging, storage, transport and presentation for retail sale of eggs are set to ensure they are marketed on a fair and competitive basis. The rules ensure that the quality of eggs is maintained.
1.3 What the Regulations Cover
The regulations apply to hen eggs marketed within the Community. They do not apply to eggs sold direct by producers to the final consumer at the farm gate or locally door-to-door. However, to be exempt the eggs must be from the producer's own hens, and none of the quality and weight grading or labelling specifications set out in the Regulations may be used. Eggs, which are marketed using a declaration of the production method e.g. "Free Range", are covered by the regulations regardless of the method of sale.
Minimum standards for housing hens in certain types of production such as free range and cage are also covered.