Importing Pet Food into the EU: Regulations and Labelling

This article explains what each of those four regulations requires. It is written for importers evaluating a supply route, and it is general information rather than legal advice — confirm the detail for your product and member state with your own consultant or competent authority.

The regulatory framework

Pet food in the EU is feed, not food. That single fact determines which body of law applies, and it surprises buyers coming from other consumer categories.

(EC) No 767/2009 — placing on the market and use of feed

This is the marketing and labelling regulation. It governs what you may claim, what you must declare, and how the label must be laid out. It is the regulation behind the analytical constituents panel and the ingredient listing on every pet food pack sold in the EU.

Critically, it also constrains claims. Article 13 prohibits feed labelling from claiming that a product will prevent, treat or cure a disease. This is why no compliant pet food label says a product treats kidney disease, heals skin conditions or cures anything — and why our own product pages describe texture, format and specification rather than making health claims.

Full text: Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 on EUR-Lex.

(EC) No 183/2005 — feed hygiene

Lays down hygiene requirements across the feed chain and requires feed business operators to apply HACCP principles. For importers, the operative part is that you are a feed business operator yourself and carry obligations accordingly — including registration with your national competent authority.

Full text: Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 on EUR-Lex.

(EC) No 1069/2009 — animal by-products

Most pet food is manufactured from animal by-products not intended for human consumption. This regulation sets the health rules for those materials and establishes the category system (Category 1, 2 and 3) that determines what may be used. Pet food is generally made from Category 3 material.

Its implementing regulation, (EU) No 142/2011, carries the detailed requirements for processing standards and for the health certificates that must accompany consignments.

Full text: Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 on EUR-Lex.

(EU) 2017/625 — official controls

The Official Controls Regulation governs how consignments are checked on entry. Animal-origin products must arrive at a designated border control post (BCP) equipped for the category, be pre-notified through the EU’s TRACES NT system, and undergo documentary, identity and physical checks.

Full text: Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on EUR-Lex.

Establishment listing: the gate before everything else

Before any of the labelling detail matters, the manufacturing plant has to be eligible to export to the EU at all. Pet food of animal origin may only be imported from third-country establishments that appear on the relevant approved list maintained by the Commission, from countries authorised for that commodity.

Two practical consequences for buyers:

1. Ask your supplier to confirm their establishment listing status for the EU specifically. A plant may be perfectly capable and certified and still not be listed.
2. Chinese exporters additionally need customs registration for export feed production. Ours is 4213PF0085, issued by Qingdao Customs with pet food as the registered variety. This is the Chinese-side qualification; it is necessary but separate from the EU-side listing.

You can check the Commission’s approved establishment lists through the DG SANTE establishment listings.

Mandatory labelling particulars

Under 767/2009, a pet food label must carry, at minimum:

• The type of feed — for pet food, “complete pet food” or “complementary pet food”, with the species it is intended for
• The name or business name and address of the feed business operator responsible for the labelling
• The approval or registration number of that operator
• The batch or lot reference
• The net quantity
• A list of feed materials, headed “composition”, in descending order by weight
• The analytical constituents — for pet food typically crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, crude ash and moisture where required
• Any additives used, declared as required
• Feeding instructions
• The minimum durability date — “best before” with the date
• A free telephone number or other contact for customers to request ingredient and additive information

The particulars must appear in a language of the member state where the product is placed on the market. A single English-only label is not sufficient for a pan-EU launch; most importers run multilingual packs covering their target markets.

FEDIAF labelling code

The European Pet Food Industry Federation publishes a Code of Good Labelling Practice that translates the legal requirements into a practical layout. It is not law, but it is the reference the industry and most national authorities work from, and following it is the pragmatic route to a compliant label.

FEDIAF also publishes nutritional guidelines that define what “complete” means for cats and dogs at different life stages — relevant if your product is positioned as a complete food rather than a treat.

Claims: what you cannot say

This is the area where imported product most often needs label revisions.

Prohibited outright:

• Any claim that the feed prevents, treats or cures a disease
• Claims that mislead as to the nature, composition or properties of the product

Permitted only with substantiation:

• “Natural”, “organic”, “hypoallergenic”, “human grade”, “grain free”, “premium” and similar positioning claims. Each needs a defensible basis. “Organic” in particular is a regulated term in the EU with its own certification requirement under the organic regulation — you cannot simply print it.

Our position as a manufacturer: we do not apply these claims to our own descriptions, because we would have to substantiate each one for each recipe. If your brand positioning requires them, raise it at the specification stage so the supporting evidence is assembled before artwork rather than after.

Also relevant: (EU) No 1169/2011

The food information to consumers regulation applies to human food, not pet food. It is listed here because buyers frequently encounter it in supplier documentation and assume it governs their product. It does not — but if you produce any human-grade line, or make comparisons to human food standards on pack, it may become relevant to how those comparisons are framed.

A practical sequence for a first EU import

1. Confirm the plant’s EU eligibility. Establishment listing and third country authorisation for the commodity.
2. Register yourself as a feed business operator with your national competent authority.
3. Agree the specification with the manufacturer, including the analytical constituents that will be declared.
4. Draft the label against 767/2009 and the FEDIAF code, in the languages of your target markets.
5. Have the label reviewed by a consultant familiar with your member state’s enforcement practice before committing to print film.
6. Confirm artwork with the factory. Lead time starts here — ours is 45 days from this point.
7. Pre-notify the consignment in TRACES NT and route it to an appropriate border control post.
8. Assemble the accompanying documentation, including the health certificate required for the commodity.

Our standing

Shandong Kaimengwei Pet Foods holds Qingdao Customs registration 4213PF0085 for export feed production, processing and storage, with pet food as the registered variety. Our facility holds BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 9 at Grade B+, IFS Food Version 8 for pet food, and a GMP verification of conformity based on CAC/RCP 1-1969 (Rev. 2020). Our ISO 22000:2018 certificate covers dried treats, semi-moist food, biscuits and chews — not wet or freeze-dried production, and we say so rather than implying wider coverage.

We have shipped to Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Greece, Finland, Sweden and Lithuania among other markets, so the documentation route is familiar to our export team.

Product-level import compliance is ultimately the importer’s responsibility and depends on your member state and your specific product. We provide the manufacturing-side documentation; you should confirm the rest with an EU consultant. Contact us for our certificates and registration details, or see what we make in pet treats and wet food.