WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1205/98 by Franco MALERBA to the Commission. European regulations on health stamps for meat products prepared in establishments with a non-industrial capacity, and their effects in Italy
Date: 1998-04-06
Institutions: European Parliament, MALERBA
Subjects: Italy, application of EU law, health control, marketing, meat, meat product, quality label, single market

C 354/80

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

19. 11. 98

(98/C 354/127)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1205/98

by Franco Malerba (PPE) to the Commission

(6 April 1998)

Subject: European  regulations  on  health  stamps  for  meat  products  prepared  in  establishments  with  a

non-industrial capacity, and their effects in Italy

Some Italian small and medium-sized meat-producing undertakings › including the prize-winning dressed pork
factory Cabella A of Sant(cid:146)Olcese in Genoa › have recently made major investments to improve the quality and
hygienic guarantees of their products in line with European regulations (Directive 92/5/EEC (1) and Directive
95/23/EC (2)) to obtain the EEC quality stamp.

The Italian Ministry of Health decree of 11 July 1997 which transposes the European regulations on butchered
meat, however, discriminates against products on purely quantitative grounds and ignores quality and hygiene
criteria; traditional artisanal products (generally those of a higher quality) may thus bear only the (cid:145)Italian market(cid:146)
stamp since they do not correspond to the minimum threshold quantities laid down by the Ministry of Health.

Have the European regulations for the benefit of small-scale production been interpreted thus in all the Member
States?  What  steps  can  be  taken  to  do  away  with  distortions  of  the  rules  of  competition,  protect  consumer
interests and make the most of SMUs which are major contributors to development and employment in this and
other sectors of the European economy?

(1)  OJ L 57, 2.3.1992, p. 1.
(2)  OJ L 243, 11.10.1995, p. 7.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(12 May 1998)

The  provisions  for  the  production  of  fresh  meat  are  laid  down  in  Directive  64/433/EEC (1)  ((cid:145)Fresh  Meat
Directive(cid:146)) as consolidated by Directive 91/497/EEC (2) and last amended by Directive 95/23/EC (3) and for the
production of meat products in Directive 77/99/EEC (4) ((cid:145)Meat Products Directive(cid:146)) as consolidated by Directive
92/5/EEC (5) and amended last by Directive 97/76/EC (6). If establishments fulfil the rules of these directives
they can be approved by the authorities of the Member States as production plants. For the products of these
establishments the health mark as provided in the relevant directive has to be used (oval stamp as prescribed in
the relevant chapter of the directives). They are permitted to market their meat on the single market.

In addition, the provisions of the directives also contain the possibility for Member States to grant establishments
manufacturing  meat  without  an  industrial  structure  or  a  limited  production  capacity  (so-called  (cid:145)small
establishments(cid:146)) derogations from certain requirements. The production of these establishments, however, has to
be marked with a national health mark and therefore can only be marketed on the national market.

If  small  establishments  without  an  industrial  structure  or  a  limited  production  capacity  fulfil  the  general
provisions of the relevant directive without derogations from certain rules, they can get a general approval as
mentioned at the beginning (oval stamp marketing on the single market). In so far also small establishments do
have the possibility to market their production on the single market. These rules are the same in all Member
States.

(1)  OJ 121, 29.7.1964.
(2)  OJ L 268, 24.9.1991.
(3)  OJ L 243, 11.10.1995.
(4)  OJ L 26, 31.1.1977.
(5)  OJ L 57, 2.3.1992.
(6)  OJ L 10, 16.1.1998.