L 106/24 Official Journal of the European Union 24.4.2007 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 445/2007 of 23 April 2007 laying down certain detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 laying down standards for spreadable fats and of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 on the protection of designations used in the marketing of milk and milk products (Codified version) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 of 5 December 1994 laying down standards for spreadable fats (1), and in particular Article 8 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 189887 of 2 July 1987 on the protection of designations used in the marketing of milk and milk products (?), and in particular Article 4(2) thereof, Whereas: (1)  Commission Regulation (EC) No 577/97 of 1 April 1997 laying down certain detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 laying down standards for spreadable fats and of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 on the protection of designations used in the marketing of milk and milk products (%) has been substantially amended several times (*). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified. (2)  Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 provides that the sales descriptions of the products referred to in Article 1 thereof must be those indicated in the Annex thereto. There are exceptions to that rule. The rule does not apply in particular to designations where the exact nature of the product is clear from traditional usage and/or where the designation is clearly used to describe a characteristic quality of the product. Certain detailed rules should be laid down for the application of that provision. (3)  Atrticle 1(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2991/94, which stipulates that that Regulation is to be applied without prejudice in particular to Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87, () O] L 316, 9.12.1994, p. 2. () OJ L 182, 3.7.1987, p. 36. Regulation as last amended by the 1994 Act of Accession. () OJ L 87, 2.4.1997, p. 3. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 568/1999 (O] L 70, 17.3.1999, p. 11). (*) See Annex IV. () O] L 310, 16.11.1988, must be complied with. The aim of the two Regulations is essentially the same, namely to avoid any confusion in the mind of the consumer as to the true nature to the products in question. Therefore, in order to ensure the consistency of Community legislation, the detailed rules for applying Regulations (EC) No 2991/94 and (EEC) No 1898/87 regarding the use of the designation butter’ should be laid down in a single text. (@) In order to identify clearly the scope of the derogations referred to in Regulation (EC) No 2991/94, an exhaustive list of the designations concerned should be drawn up, together with a description of the products to which they refer. (5)  The first criterion of the derogation provided for in the first indent of the third subparagraph of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 relates to the traditional character of a designation. Such traditional character may be considered proven where the designation has been used for a period preceding 9 April 1997, at least equal to the duration usually attributed to a human generation. The derogation must be limited to those products for which the designation has actually been used so that such traditional character is not lost. (6)  The second criterion of the that derogation relates to the use of the designations in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2991/94 to describe a characteristic feature of the marketed products. In this case, the exception relates logically to products which are not listed as such in that Annex. (7)  That derogation should be restricted to products which were marketed on 9 April 1997. The Member States forwarded to the Commission, before that date, the list of products which they considered as meeting the criteria of that derogation within their territory. (8)  Commission Decision 88/566/EEC of 28 October 1988 listing the products referred to in the second subpara- graph of Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 (%) already contains exceptions with regard to the designation ‘butter’. Account should be taken of them. p. 32. Decision amended by Decision 98/144[EC (O] L 42, 14.2.1998, p. 61).