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►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 1208/81
of 28 April 1981
determining the Community scale for the classification of carcases of adult bovine animals
(OJ L 123, 7.5.1981, p. 3)
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 35, 11.2.1986, p. 12 (1208/81)
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COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 1208/81
of 28 April 1981
determining the Community scale for the classification of carcases
of adult bovine animals
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 of 27 June 1968
on the common organization of the market in beef and veal(
1), as last
amended by the 1979 Act of Accession,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1358/80of 5 June 1980
fixing the guide price and intervention price for adult bovine animalsfor the 1980/81 marketing year and introducing a Community gradingscale for carcases of adult bovine animals(
2), and in particular Article 4
(1) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1358/80provided that a Community
grading scale for carcases of adult bovine animals should be applied forrecording prices and for intervention in the beef and veal sector;
Whereas the classification must be made on the basis of conformation
and the degree of fat cover; whereas the combination of these twocriteria enables carcases of adult bovine animals to be divided intoclasses; whereas carcases thus classified must be identified;
Whereas, in order to ensure the uniform application of this Regulation
in the Community, provision should be made for on-the-spot checks bya Community inspection committee;
Whereas, taking into account the practical problems that are entailed by
the implementation of the Community scale for classification in theMember States, it is necessary to provide for its gradual application,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
This Regulation lays down the Community classification scale for the
carcases of adult bovine animals.
Article 2
1. For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall
apply:
(a)carcase: the whole body of a slaughtered animal as presented after
bleeding, evisceration and skinning, presented:
— without the head and without the feet; the head shall be
separated from the carcase at the atloido-occipital joint and thefeet shall be severed at the carpametacarpal or tarsometatarsaljoints,
— without the organs contained in the thoracic and abdominal
cavities with or without the kidneys, the kidney fat and thepelvic fat,
— without the sexual organs and the attached muscles and, in
females, without the udder or the mammary fat;
(1) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 24.
(2) OJ No L 140, 5. 6. 1980, p. 4.
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(b)half-carcase: the product obtained by separating the carcase
referred to in (a) symmetrically through the middle of each cervical,dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebra and through the middle of thesternum and the ischiopubic symphysis.
2. Furthermore, for the purpose of establishing market prices, the
carcase shall be presented without the removal of external fat:
— without kidneys, kidney fat, or pelvic fat,
— without thin skirt or thick skirt,— without the tail,— without the spinal cord,
▼
C1
— without cod fat,
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— without fat on the inside of topside,— without jugular vein and the adjacent fat,
the neck being cut in accordance with veterinary requirements.
However, Member States shall be authorized to accept different presen-
tations when this reference presentation is not used.
In such instances, the adjustments necessary to progress from those
presentations to the reference presentation shall be determined inaccordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27 of Regulation(EEC) No 805/68.
Article 3
1. The carcases of adult bovine animals shall be divided into the
following categories:
— carcases of uncastrated young male animals of less than 2 years of
age,
— carcases of other uncastrated male animals,— carcases of castrated male animals,— carcases of female animals that have calved,— carcases of other female animals.
The criteria shall be laid down to differentiate between categories of
carcases in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27 ofRegulation (EEC) No 805/68.
2. The carcases of adult bovine animals shall be classified by assess-
ment respectively of:
(a) conformation,
(b) fat cover,as defined in Annexes I and II, respectively.
Member States are authorized not to take into consideration as an
additional criterion the muscular development for the conformation ofcarcases.
Member States which intend to use this authorization shall so notify the
Commission and the other Member States.
3. Member States shall be authorized to subdivide each of the classes
envisaged in Annexes I and II into a maximum of three sub-classes.
Article 4
1. Carcases or half-carcases shall be classified as soon as possible
after slaughter and such classification shall be carried out in the slaugh-terhouse itself.
2. The classified carcases or half-carcases shall be identified.3. Before identification by marking, Member States shall be author-
ized to remove the external fat from the carcases or half-carcases if thisis justified by the fat cover.
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The conditions in which removal of the external fat will be applied shallbe determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27of Regulation (EEC) No 805/68.
Article 5
On-the-spot inspection shall be carried out by a Community inspection
committee composed of experts from the Commission and expertsappointed by the Member States. This Committee shall report back tothe Commission on checks carried out.
The Commission shall, if appropriate, take the measures necessary to
ensure that the classification is carried out in a uniform manner.
These inspections shall be carried out on behalf of the Community,
which shall bear the resulting costs.
The detailed rules for applying this Article shall be adopted in accord-
ance with the procedure laid down in Article 27 of Regulation (EEC)No 805/68.
Article 6
Additional provisions specifying the definition of the classes of confor-
mation and fat cover shall be adopted in accordance with the procedurelaid down in Article 27 of Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 before 30 June1981.
The Commission shall, before 31 December 1981, submit to the
Council a report on the problems arising from the implementation in thedifferent Member States of the Community scale, particularly as regardsthe application of the provisions of the second subparagraph of Article 3(2).
The Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, shall decide
before 31 March 1982, in the light of the said report, on the date fromwhich the establishment of market prices and application of interventionmeasures shall be effected on the basis of the Community scale.
Until the date of application for the establishment of market prices,
price tables will be drawn up on a parallel basis, firstly, in accordancewith currently-applicable Community and national provisions and,secondly, on the basis of administrative methods to be drawn upprogressively in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation.
Article 7
This Regulation shall enter into force at the beginning of the 1981/82
marketing year.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.
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Conformation Class DescriptionANNEX I
CONFORMATION
Development of carcase profiles, in particular the essential parts (round,
back, shoulder)
E
excellentAll profiles convex to superconvex; exceptional
muscle development
U
very goodProfiles on the whole convex; very good muscle
development
R
goodProfiles on the whole straight; good muscle develop-
ment
O
fairProfiles straight to concave; average muscle develop-
ment
P
poorAll profiles concave to very concave; poor muscle
development
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Class of fat cover DescriptionANNEX II
DEGREE OF FAT COVER
Amount of fat on the outside of the carcase and in the thoracic cavity
1
lowNone up to low fat cover
2slight Slight fat cover, flesh visible almost everywhere
3average Flesh, with the exception of the round and shoulder,
almost everywhere covered with fat, slight depositsof fat in the thoracic cavity
4
highFlesh covered with fat, but on the round and shoulder
still partly visible, some distinctive fat deposits in thethoracic cavity
5
very highEntire carcase covered with fat; heavy fat deposits in
the thoracic cavity