TITLE IILabelling of beef and beef products
Article 11
An operator or an organisation, as defined in Article 12, which:
is required, by virtue of Section I of this title, to label beef at all stages of marketing,
wishes, by virtue of Section II of this title, to label beef at the point of sale in such a way as to provide information, other than that laid down by Article 13, concerning certain characteristics or production conditions of the labelled meat or of the animal from which it derives,
shall do so in accordance with this title.
This title shall apply without prejudice to relevant Community legislation, in particular on beef.
Article 12
For the purposes of this title, the following definitions shall apply:
‘beef’ means all products falling within CN codes 0201, 0202, 0206 10 95 and 0206 29 91,
‘labelling’ means the attachment of a label to an individual piece or pieces of meat or to their packaging material, or in the case of non-prewrapped products the supply of appropriate information in written and visible form to the consumer at the point of sale,
‘organisation’ means a group of operators from the same or different parts of the beef trade.
SECTION ICompulsory Community beef labelling system
Article 13General rules
1
Operators and organisations marketing beef in the Community shall label it in accordance with this Article.
The compulsory labelling system shall ensure a link between, on the one hand, the identification of the carcass, quarter or pieces of meat and, on the other hand, the individual animal or, where this is sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information on the label to be checked, the group of animals concerned.
2
The label shall contain the following indications:
a
a reference number or reference code ensuring the link between the meat and the animal or animals. This number may be the identification number of the individual animal from which the beef was derived or the identification number relating to a group of animals;
b
the approval number of the slaughterhouse at which the animal or group of animals was slaughtered and the Member State or third country in which the slaughterhouse is established. The indication shall read: ‘Slaughtered in (name of the Member State or third country) (approval number)’;
c
the approval number of the cutting hall which performed the cutting operation on the carcass or group of carcases and the Member State or third country in which the hall is established. The indication shall read: ‘Cutting in: (name of the Member State or third country) (approval number)’.
3
However, up until 31 December 2001, Member States where sufficient details are available in the identification and registration system for bovine animals, provided for in Title I, may decide that, for beef from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the same Member State, supplementary items of information must also be indicated on labels.
4
A compulsory system as provided for in paragraph 3 must not lead to any disruption of trade between the Member States.
The implementation arrangements applicable in those Member States intending to apply paragraph 3 shall require prior approval from the Commission.
5
a
As from 1 January 2002, operators and organisations shall also indicate on the labels:
- (i)
Member State or third country of birth;
- (ii)
all Member States or third countries where fattening took place;
- (iii)
Member State or third country where slaughter took place;
b
However, where the beef is derived from animals born, raised and slaughtered:
- (i)
in the same Member State, the indication may be given as ‘Origin: (name of Member State)’;
- (ii)
in the same third country, the indication may be given as ‘Origin: (name of third country)’.
Article 14Derogations from the compulsory labelling system
By way of derogation from Article 13(2)(b) and (c) and from Article 13(5)(a)(i) and (ii), an operator or organisation preparing minced beef shall indicate on the label the words ‘prepared (name of the Member State or third country)’, depending on where the meat was prepared, and ‘origin’ where the State or States involved are not the State of preparation.
The obligation provided for in Article 13(5)(a)(iii) shall be applicable to such meat as from the date of application of this Regulation.
However, such operator or organisation may add to the label of the minced beef:
one or more of the indications provided for in Article 13, and/or
the date on which the meat was prepared.
On the basis of experience, and in the light of requirements, similar provisions may be adopted for cut meat and for beef trimmings in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 23(2).
Article 15Compulsory labelling of beef from third countries
By way of derogation from Article 13, beef imported into the Community for which not all the information provided for in Article 13 is available, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 17, shall be labelled with the indication: ‘Origin: non-EC’ and ‘Slaughtered in: (name of third country)’.
SECTION IIVoluntary labelling system
Article 16General rules
1
For labels containing indications other than those provided for in Section I of this title, each operator or organisation shall send a specification for approval to the competent authority of the Member State in which production or sale of the beef in question takes place. The competent authority may also establish specifications to be used in the Member State concerned, provided that use thereof is not compulsory.
Voluntary labelling specifications shall indicate:
the information to be included on the label,
the measures to be taken to ensure the accuracy of the information,
the control system which will be applied at all stages of production and sale, including the controls to be carried out by an independent body recognised by the competent authority and designated by the operator or the organisation. These bodies shall comply with the criteria set out in European Standard EN/45011,
in the case of an organisation, the measures to be taken in relation to any member which fails to comply with the specifications.
Member States may decide that controls by an independent body may be replaced by controls by a competent authority. The competent authority shall in that case have at its disposal the qualified staff and resources necessary to carry out the requisite controls.
The costs of controls provided for in this section shall be borne by the operator or organisation using the labelling system.
2
The approval of any specification shall be subject to the assurance of the competent authority, obtained on the basis of a thorough examination of its components as referred to in paragraph 1, of the proper and reliable functioning of the labelling system envisaged and, in particular, of any specification which does not ensure a link between, on the one hand, the identification of the carcass, quarter or pieces of meat and, on the other hand, the individual animal or, where this is sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information on the label to be checked, the animals concerned.
Specifications which provide for labels containing misleading or insufficiently clear information shall also be refused.
3
Where the production and/or sale of beef takes place in two or more Member States, the competent authorities of the Member States concerned shall examine and approve the specifications submitted in so far as the elements contained therein relate to operations taking place within their respective territories. In such case, each Member State concerned shall recognise the approvals granted by any other Member State concerned.
If, within a period to be fixed in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 23(2), counting from the day following the date of submission of the application, approval has not been refused or given, or supplementary information has not been asked for, the specification shall be considered to be approved by the competent authority.
4
Where the competent authorities of all the Member States concerned approve the specification submitted, the operator or organisation concerned shall be entitled to label beef, provided that the label contains its name or logo.
5
By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 to 4, the Commission, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 23(2), may provide for an accelerated or simplified procedure for approval in specific cases, in particular for beef in small retail packages or prime beef cuts in individual packages, labelled in a Member State according to an approved specification and introduced into the territory of another Member State, provided that no information is added to the initial label.
6
A Member State may decide that the name of one or more of its regions may not be used, in particular where the name of a region:
could give rise to confusion or difficulties in checking,
is reserved for beef in the framework of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92.
Where authorisation is given, the name of the Member State shall appear alongside the name of the region.
7
Member States shall inform the Commission of the implementation of this Article and in particular of the indications set out on the labels. The Commission shall inform the other Member States within the Management Committee for Beef and Veal referred to in Article 23(1)(b) and, where necessary, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 23(2), rules relating to those indications may be laid down and, in particular, limits may be imposed.
Article 17Voluntary labelling system for beef from third countries
1
Where the production of beef takes place, in full or in part, in a third country, operators and organisations shall be entitled to label beef according to this section if, in addition to complying with Article 16, they have obtained for their specifications the approval of the competent authority designated for that purpose by each of the third countries concerned.
2
The validity within the Community of an approval granted by a third country shall be subject to prior notification by the third country to the Commission of:
the competent authority which has been designated,
the procedures and criteria to be followed by the competent authority when examining the specification,
each operator and organisation whose specification was accepted by the competent authority.
The Commission shall transmit these notifications to the Member States.
Where, on the basis of the above notifications, the Commission reaches the conclusion that the procedures and/or criteria applied in a third country are not equivalent to the standards set out in this Regulation, the Commission shall, after consultation with the third country concerned, decide that approvals granted by that third country shall not be valid within the Community.
Article 18Sanctions
Without prejudice to any action taken by the organisation itself or the independent control body provided for in Article 16, where it is shown that an operator or organisation has failed to comply with the specification referred to in Article 16(1), the Member State may withdraw the approval provided for in Article 16(2) or impose supplementary conditions to be respected if its approval is to be maintained.
SECTION IIIGeneral provisions
Article 19Detailed rules
The measures necessary for the implementation of this title shall be adopted in accordance with the management procedure referred to in Article 23(2). These measures concern in particular:
- (a)
definition of the size of the group of animals, referred to in Article 13(2)(a);
- (b)
definition of the minced beef, beef trimmings or cut beef referred to in Article 14;
- (c)
definition of specific indications that may be put on labels;
- (d)
measures required to facilitate the transition from the application of Regulation (EC) No 820/97 to application of this title;
- (e)
measures required to resolve specific practical problems. Such measures, if duly justified, may derogate from certain parts of this title.
Article 20Designation of competent authorities
Member States shall designate the competent authority or authorities responsible for implementing this title, no later than 14 October 2000.F1The Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia shall do so no later than three months after the date of accession.F2Bulgaria and Romania shall do so no later than three months after the date of accession.
Article 21
At the latest by 14 August 2003, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council, together, if necessary, with appropriate proposals regarding extending the scope of this Regulation to processed products containing beef and beef-based products.