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Animal Feed
Animal feed is a central part of the EU food chain and is regulated as a food-safety issue as much as an agricultural input. The Commission notes that around 5 million EU farmers raise animals for food production worth about €130 billion, using roughly 450 million tonnes of feed each year, while 70 million pet-owning households buy around 10 million tonnes of pet feed. The page distinguishes three main feed categories: feed materials, feed additives, and compound feed, including pet food.
The EU framework focuses in particular on the authorisation, marketing and use of feed additives and on the marketing of feed materials and compound feed. The Commission points to Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 for feed additives and Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 for the placing on the market and use of feed. This shows that EU feed law is built around both product safety and market rules, ensuring that feed circulating in the Union is properly assessed, labelled and controlled.
A major pillar of the system is official control and enforcement. The page links feed controls to the broader official controls framework under Regulation (EU) 2017/625, while more specific technical rules for feed sampling and laboratory analysis are laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 152/2009, as later amended, including by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/771 and Commission Regulation (EU) No 691/2013. These rules are important because they determine how feed is sampled, tested and verified in practice, including for contaminants such as dioxins and PCBs.
The page also highlights the governance side of EU feed policy. Animal nutrition issues are discussed between the Commission and EU countries in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed – Animal Nutrition, which helps coordinate technical and regulatory decisions. This underlines that feed safety is not only based on legislation, but also on ongoing administrative cooperation and scientific-technical oversight.
Beyond the core legislation, the section points to a broader policy ecosystem covering feed additives, feed hygiene, feed marketing, genetically modified feed, medicated feed, and undesirable substances. In particular, the Commission explains that the rules on undesirable substances aim to ensure that feed is placed on the market only if it is of good quality and does not endanger human health, animal health or the environment. Medicated feed is presented as a controlled mixture of feed and veterinary medicinal product used to treat or control disease in farmed animals, aquaculture species and pets.
Overall, the page presents animal feed as a highly regulated domain where safety, traceability, market access and technical control are tightly linked. The underlying principle is straightforward: there can be no safe food without safe feed, because risks entering the feed chain can pass through to animals, food products and ultimately consumers.
The EU framework focuses in particular on the authorisation, marketing and use of feed additives and on the marketing of feed materials and compound feed. The Commission points to Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 for feed additives and Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 for the placing on the market and use of feed. This shows that EU feed law is built around both product safety and market rules, ensuring that feed circulating in the Union is properly assessed, labelled and controlled.
A major pillar of the system is official control and enforcement. The page links feed controls to the broader official controls framework under Regulation (EU) 2017/625, while more specific technical rules for feed sampling and laboratory analysis are laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 152/2009, as later amended, including by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/771 and Commission Regulation (EU) No 691/2013. These rules are important because they determine how feed is sampled, tested and verified in practice, including for contaminants such as dioxins and PCBs.
The page also highlights the governance side of EU feed policy. Animal nutrition issues are discussed between the Commission and EU countries in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed – Animal Nutrition, which helps coordinate technical and regulatory decisions. This underlines that feed safety is not only based on legislation, but also on ongoing administrative cooperation and scientific-technical oversight.
Beyond the core legislation, the section points to a broader policy ecosystem covering feed additives, feed hygiene, feed marketing, genetically modified feed, medicated feed, and undesirable substances. In particular, the Commission explains that the rules on undesirable substances aim to ensure that feed is placed on the market only if it is of good quality and does not endanger human health, animal health or the environment. Medicated feed is presented as a controlled mixture of feed and veterinary medicinal product used to treat or control disease in farmed animals, aquaculture species and pets.
Overall, the page presents animal feed as a highly regulated domain where safety, traceability, market access and technical control are tightly linked. The underlying principle is straightforward: there can be no safe food without safe feed, because risks entering the feed chain can pass through to animals, food products and ultimately consumers.
