Document type : Answer from the European Commission to the European Parliament
Question: According to information provided by DG AGRI, imports of frozen fatty liver from Ukraine to the EU increased from around 1 tonne in 2014 to around 50 tonnes in 2018. This translates into almost double the total Belgian ‘foie gras’ production.
In order to be regarded as ‘foie gras’, these livers must meet a minimum weight requirement (as defined in Article 1(3) of Regulation No 543/2008) and the animals must therefore be force fed since such weights would not be attained naturally.
As the Commission knows, this practice is illegal in 23 Member States, in accordance with the animal welfare requirements of Directive 58/98.
- Into which Member States were these frozen fatty livers imported and for what purpose?
- How can consumers identify whether such livers have been produced within the territory of the EU?
- Is the ‘frozen fatty liver’ category the only one used to import livers of animals that have been force fed into the EU?
Answer: The Commission can confirm that imports of frozen fatty livers of geese from Ukraine into the EU ranged from 1 tonne in 2014 to 56 tonnes in 2018. According to the latest available trade data for 2019 (covering the period January-November), those imports decreased to 21 tonnes.
Over the period 2014-2019, those imports were mainly destined to the Netherlands (86% of total imported quantities) and Hungary (10%) with limited quantities imported in Slovakia, Estonia and France. Information on the final use of those imported products is not available.
Unlike poultry meat for which origin labelling is compulsory under Regulation 1337/2013, offal do not fall under this obligation. Voluntary origin labelling is however possible along the lines established in Regulation 1169/2011.
Frozen fatty livers are imported under Combined Nomenclature (CN) code 0207 55 93 when from geese and under CN code 0207 45 93 when from ducks. Two additional CN codes cover fresh/chilled fatty livers: 0207 43 00 when from ducks and 0207 53 00 when from geese. According to available trade statistics, the only type of imported fatty liver into the EU is frozen from geese.
