Article 1Traceability

All operators and organisations, within the meaning of the F1Article 12(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, shall, at each of their various stages of production and sale, have an identification system and a comprehensive registration system.

Such a system shall be applied in such a way as to ensure the link between the identification of the meat and the animal or animals concerned as provided for in F2Article 13(1) of that Regulation.

The registration system shall record, in particular, the arrival and departure of livestock, carcases and/or cuts to ensure that a correlation between arrivals and departures is guaranteed.

F3Article 1aDefinitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

  1. (a)

    ‘minced meat’: any meat that has been minced into fragments or passed through a spiral-screw mincer, and that falls within one of the CN codes referred to in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 and contains less than 1 % salt;

  2. (b)

    ‘trimmings’: small pieces of meat recognised as fit for human consumption produced exclusively during trimming operations during the boning of carcases and/or the cutting up of meat;

  3. (c)

    ‘cut meat’: meat which has been cut into small cubes, slices or other individual portions that do not require further cutting by an operator before being bought by the final consumer and can be directly used by that consumer. This definition does not cover minced meat and trimmings;

  4. (d)

    ‘pre-packaged cut meat’: the individual pack offered unaltered to the final consumer or to an establishment engaged solely in retail sales, made up of cut meat and the packaging in which it was packed before being offered for sale, whether the packaging covers it fully or partially, but such that the content cannot be altered without opening or changing the packaging;

  5. (e)

    ‘non-pre-packaged cut meat’: cut meat displayed for sale non-pre-packaged in outlets for sale to the final consumer and all pieces of meat displayed for sale non-pre-packaged in outlets for sale to the final consumer, intended to be cut at the request of the final consumer;

  6. (f)

    ‘batch’: meat, on the bone or boned, for example, carcases, quarters or boned pieces of meat, cut up, minced or packed together under practically identical conditions;

  7. (g)

    ‘retail’: the handling and/or processing of meat and its storage at the point of sale or delivery to the final consumer, including caterers, company canteens, institutional catering, restaurants and other similar food service operations, shops, supermarket distribution centres and wholesale outlets;

  8. (h)

    ‘final consumer’: the ultimate consumer of cut meat who does not use it as part of a food business operation or activity.

  9. (i)

    F4‘third country’ means any country or territory other than:

    1. (i)

      the United Kingdom;

    2. (ii)

      the Bailiwick of Jersey;

    3. (iii)

      the Bailiwick of Guernsey;

    4. (iv)

      the Isle of Man.

Article 2Labelling where information is not available

1.

The approval number, as referred to in Article 13(2)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 shall be:

(a)

either the approval number, as provided for in F5Article 148 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625;

(b)

or, where there is no approval number, the national registration number.

F6...

2.

In application of Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000:

F7(a)

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(b)

for meat derived from animals imported live into F8Great Britain from a third country, where information concerning the place of birth and/or the place of rearing, other than the last place of rearing, is not available, the indication of the place of birth and/or place of rearing shall be replaced by the indication ‘*(Live import into the F9UK )’ or ‘*(Live import from [name of third country])’.

3.

F10By way of derogation from paragraph 2(b), meat:

(a)

derived from animals that are, before IP completion day, imported live into the United Kingdom from a third country, and

(b)

labelled in accordance with paragraph 2(b), as it had effect immediately before IP completion day,

may be placed on the market until the end of the period of 21 months beginning on the day on which IP completion day falls, and may remain on the market until stocks are exhausted.

4.

derived from animals imported live into the EU (provided that such animals are not subsequently imported live into the United Kingdom on or after IP completion day), and

(a)

derived from animals imported live into the EU (provided that such animals are not subsequently imported live into the United Kingdom on or after IP completion day), and

(b)

labelled in accordance with paragraph 2(b), as it had effect immediately before IP completion day,

may be placed on the market until the end of the period of 21 months beginning on the day on which IP completion day falls, and may remain on the market until stocks are exhausted.

Article 3Simplification of the indication of origin

In application of Article 13(5)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, for beef derived from animals which have been reared for 30 days or less:

  • in the F11... country of birth,

  • in the F11... country where slaughter took place,

the indication of those F12... countries, as a F11... country where rearing took place, shall not be required, provided those animals were reared in another F11... country for a period longer than 30 days.

F13Article 4Size and composition of a group

1.

The size of the group referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 shall be defined:

(a)

during the cutting of carcases or quarters, by the number of carcases or quarters cut together and constituting one batch for the cutting plant concerned;

(b)

during further cutting or mincing, by the number of carcases or quarters whose meat constitutes one batch for the cutting or mincing plant concerned.

The size of the group may not, in any case, exceed the production of one day.

2.

When constituting the batches referred to in paragraph 1, operators shall ensure that:

(a)

all carcases or quarters in a batch cut together are of animals born in the same country, raised in the same country or countries and slaughtered in the same country and at the same slaughterhouse;

(b)

all carcases from which meat in a batch undergoes further cutting comply with point (a) and must have been cut up at the same cutting plant;

(c)

all meat in a batch that undergoes mincing is from animals slaughtered in the same country.

3.

By way of derogation from the requirement regarding the same slaughterhouse and the same cutting plant laid down in paragraph 2(b), during the production of cut meat, operators shall be authorised to constitute batches from meat of animals slaughtered at a maximum of three different slaughterhouses and from carcases cut up at a maximum of three different cutting plants.

4.

By way of derogation from paragraph 2(b), during the production of trimmings, operators shall, when constituting batches, be required to comply only with the requirement regarding the same country of slaughter.

Article 5Minced beef

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2.

The supplementary information which may be included on labels as provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 shall be:

(a)

F15... The indications referred to in Article 13(2)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, as well as the date of mincing;

F16(b)

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(c)

F17... The indications referred to in Article 13(5)(a)(i) and (ii) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000.

F3Article 5aTrimmings

1.

By way of derogation from Article 13(2)(b) and (c) and (5)(a)(i) and (ii) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, operators and organisations shall indicate on labels for trimmings:

(a)

the country of slaughter of the animals from which the trimmings came; the indication shall read: ‘Slaughtered in (name of the F18... country of slaughter)’;

(b)

the country in which the trimmings were produced and the approval number of the plant at which they were produced; the indication shall read: ‘Produced in (name of the F18... country of production and approval number of the plant)’;

(c)

the countries in which the animals constituting the group were born and raised; the indication shall read: ‘Born and raised in (names of the countries in which the animals were born and raised)’.

2.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1(a) and (c), where all the animals in the group were born, raised and slaughtered in the same country, operators shall be authorised to use the indication ‘Country of origin:’ followed by the name of the F18... country in which the animals were born, raised and slaughtered.

Article 5b Pre-packaged cut meat

By way of derogation from Article 13(2)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, operators and organisations availing themselves of the possibility offered by Article 4(3) of this Regulation shall indicate the following on labels for pre-packaged cut meats in addition to that provided for in Article 13(5)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000:

  1. (a)

    the country of slaughter of the animals, followed by the approval number of the slaughterhouse or, where appropriate, the two or three slaughterhouses at which the animals constituting the group were slaughtered; the indication shall read: ‘Animals in the group slaughtered in (name of the F19... country of slaughter) (approval number(s) of the slaughterhouse or the two or three slaughterhouses concerned)’;

  2. (b)

    the country in which the carcases were cut up, followed by the approval number of the cutting plant or, where appropriate, the two or three cutting plants at which the carcases were cut up; the indication shall read: ‘Cutting of meat in batch in: (name of the F19... country in which meat was cut up) (approval number(s) of the plant or the two or three plants concerned)’.

Article 5c Non-pre-packaged cut meat

1.

Operators and organisations shall ensure that, where the derogation provided for in Article 4(3) is applied, the constitution of batches of all non-pre-packaged cut meats displayed at the same time at retail outlets for sale to the final consumer is in accordance with that Article 4(3).

2.

By way of derogation from Article 13(2)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, at points of sale to the final consumer operators and organisations shall label all non-pre-packaged cut meats displayed for sale with the name of the country in which the animals from which the meat came were born, raised and slaughtered, followed by the name of the country in which the carcases were cut up.

Meat of animals born and/or raised and/or slaughtered in different countries shall be clearly separated when displayed for sale. X1Information shall be displayed in the sale outlet near such meats so as to allow the final consumer to distinguish easily between meat from different origins.

Operators who display non-pre-packaged cut meats together for sale each day shall record, with the date, the approval numbers of the slaughterhouses in which the animals were slaughtered and the cutting plants in which the carcases were cut up. They shall provide that information to consumers who so request.

3.

By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of Article 4(1) and providing that the requirements laid down in paragraph 2 of this Article are met, in the case of non-pre-packaged cut beef and/or veal displayed for sale to the final consumer, the size of the group may exceed one day’s production.

F20Article 6Approval procedures

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Article 7Checks

1.

Operators and organisations shall at all times grant F21... the competent authority F22... access to its premises and to all records which prove that the information on the labels concerned is correct.

2.

The competent authority F23... shall carry out regular spot checks on the basis of risk analysis F24.... For each check an inspection report shall be made to include any shortcomings as well as the measures proposed to remedy the situation and any deadlines and sanctions imposed.

F253.

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4.

Operators F26and organisations shall communicate all relevant information to the competent authority.

F27Article 8Approvals granted by third countries

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F27Article 9Sanctions

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F27Article 10Records

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F27Article 11Communications

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F27Article 12Transitional provision

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Article 13Repeal

Regulation (EC) No 1141/97 is hereby repealed.

F28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in the Annex.

Article 14Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

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