Commission Regulation (EC) No 1825/2000 of 25 August 2000 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the labelling of beef and beef products
Date: 2000-08-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: beef, database, health control, labelling, meat product, traceability

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1825/2000

of 25 August 2000

laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European
Parliament and of the Council as regards the labelling of beef and beef products

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(6)

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the Euro-
pean Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 estab-
lishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine
animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products
and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 (1), and in
particular Article 19 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000 should be laid down, in particular as regards
sales between Member States, in order that the labelling
system will not lead to distortions of trade on the beef
and veal market.

it is necessary,

In order to ensure traceability,
in the
context of both the compulsory and voluntary systems
of beef labelling, that operators and organisations keep
an identification system and a comprehensive registra-
tion system for beef, at each of its various stages of
production and sale.

to identify slaughterhouses

In order
for which no
approval number exists, it is necessary, for a transitional
period, to provide alternative methods of identification
for such slaughterhouses.

It
is also necessary to define the procedure to be
followed for labelling beef derived from animals, the full
birth and movement data of which are not available
because recording of those data was only required after
1 January 1998 by Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97
of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the identifica-
tion and registration of bovine animals and regarding
the labelling of beef and beef products (2), A similar
provision is required for labelling beef derived from
animals imported live into the Community from third
countries.

In the context of the full indication of origin, in order to
avoid unnecessary repetition of the indication on the
label of the Member States or third countries where
rearing took place, it is necessary to introduce a simpli-
fied presentation based on the time during which the
animal from which the beef was derived was kept in the
Member State or third country of birth or of slaughter.

(1) OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 117, 7.5.1997, p. 1.

It is necessary to clarify the situation with regard to the
supplementary information which may be included on
the simplified labelling procedures for
labels under
minced beef. Such supplementary information may,
under Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, be
indicated until 1 September 2000. Certain information
the
may only be indicated until 1 January 2002 if
Member State concerned has taken a decision to apply a
national compulsory labelling system including such
information or if the operator concerned indicates the
information on a voluntary basis.

(7)

In the context of the voluntary beef labelling system, it is
necessary to provide for an accelerated or simplified
approval procedure for certain beef cuts labelled in a
Member State according to an approved specification
and introduced into the territory of another Member
State.

(8) With a view to guaranteeing the reliability of the specifi-
cation, it is necessary for the independent body and the
competent authority to have access to all records kept
by the operators and organisations and to carry out
regular spot checks on the basis of risk analysis.

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 lays down
certain provisions where the production of beef takes
place, in full or in part, in a third country. It is appro-
priate to provide detailed implementing rules for the
approval procedure for imports of beef from third coun-
tries.

to ensure that

In order
the labelling arrangements
relating to imported beef are of equivalent reliability to
those applicable to Community beef, the Commission
shall examine notifications received from third countries.
shall be transmitted to the
Complete notifications
Member States when the Commission reaches
the
conclusion that the procedures and/or criteria applied in
the third country concerned are equivalent to the stan-
dards set out in Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000.

In order to guarantee the reliability of
the labelling
system in third countries the Commission may request
information and should take the necessary
additional
measures in the light of the information received as a
result of these requests.

The Commission may carry out checks in third coun-
tries. In order to be able to carry out checks in a third
country, the Commission would need the prior consent
of the third country concerned. If such consent is not
forthcoming, the Commission should take the necessary
measures.

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(13)

It is necessary for Member States to carry out checks in
order to guarantee sufficient accuracy of the voluntary
labels used.

indication of origin in the Community
until the full
compulsory labelling system comes into effect on 1
January 2002.

in compliance with the rules of

(14) A framework for the sanctions to be imposed on opera-
tors should be established. Such a framework should
take account of situations where an operator has not
labelled beef
the
compulsory labelling system or where an operator has
labelled beef, in the context of the voluntary labelling
system, without complying with the specification or
where there is no approved specification. For a limited
period, until 1 January 2001, in order to account for the
difficulties of operators in the implementation of this
regulation, the most severe sanctions should only take
place when the label contains information which is
misleading to the consumer or does not conform with
the approved specification.

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

Regulation (EC) No 820/97 provided that each operator
or organisation wishing to make a voluntary indication
on a label shall submit a specification for approval to
the competent authority of each Member State in which
production or sale of the beef in question takes place.
Council Regulation (EC) No 2772/1999 of 21 December
1999 providing for the general rules for a compulsory
beef labelling system (1) allowed operators to continue to
give voluntary indications on beef labels, as a comple-
ment to the compulsory indications, until 31 August
2000.

Provided no change has been made to approved volun-
tary specifications and on condition that they are in
conformity with the new rules,
it is appropriate that
such specifications as well as those approved for third
countries, should continue to be valid.

for beef

Regulation (EC) No 820/97 provides that, where suffi-
cient details are available in the identification and regis-
tration system for bovine animals, Member States may
from animals born, raised and
decide that,
slaughtered in the same Member State, supplementary
items of information must also be indicated on labels.
Regulation (EC) No 2772/1999 permitted Member
States to continue to have recourse to the possibility of
imposing a compulsory labelling system for beef from
animals born, fattened and slaughtered on their own
territory, in accordance with Article 19(4) of Regulation
(EC) No 820/97, on a provisional basis, until 31 August
2000.

Commission Decision No 98/595/EC of 13 October
1998 concerning the application for a compulsory beef
labelling system in France and Belgium (2) and Commis-
sion Decision No 1999/1/EC of 14 December 1998
concerning the application for a compulsory beef label-
ling system in Finland (3) permit those Member States to
impose a compulsory labelling system for beef from
animals born, fattened and slaughtered on their own
territory. Those decisions, as well as any further such
decisions of that kind, should continue to be applicable

(19)

(20)

In order to monitor the application of the voluntary
should record the
labelling system, Member States
to the
approved specifications
Commission information on their national
imple-
menting rules and the voluntary indications approved
within their territory. It is necessary to keep a regular
update of such information.

and communicate

It is necessary to repeal Commission Regulation (EC) No
1141/97 of 23 June 1997, laying down detailed rules
for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 820/
97 as regards the labelling of beef and beef products (4),
as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 824/98 (5).
to avoid confusion during the transitional
However,
period before the introduction of
the compulsory
system, as laid down by Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000,
Regulation (EC) No 1141/97 should remain applicable
for meat derived from animals slaughtered before 1
September 2000.

(21)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Beef and Veal,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Traceability

All operators and organisations, within the meaning of the
third indent of Article 12 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 Articles 13(1) and 16(2)
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.

Article 2

Labelling where information is not available

The approval number, as referred to in Article 13(2)(b) of

1.
Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 shall be:

(a) either the approval number, as provided for in Article 10(1)

of Council Directive 64/433/EEC (6),

(b) or, where there is no approval number, the national regis-

tration number.

(1) OJ L 334, 28.12.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 286, 23.10.1998, p. 55.
(3) OJ L 1, 5.1.1999, p. 3.

(4) OJ L 165, 24.6.1997, p. 7.
(5) OJ L 117, 21.4.1998, p. 4.
(6) OJ 121, 29.7.1964, p. 2012/64.

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Where neither of the two numbers is available, until 1 January
2001, the number may be replaced by the name and address of
the slaughterhouse.

(a) as from 1 September 2000, the indications referred to in
Article 13(2)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000,
as well as the date of mincing;

In application of Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No

2.
1760/2000:

(a) for meat derived from animals born in the Community
before 1 January 1998, 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 ‘*(Born before 1 January 1998)’.

(b) for meat derived from animals imported live into the
Community, 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 indi-
cation ‘*(Live import into the EC)’ or ‘*(Live import from
[name of third country])’.

Article 3

Simplification 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 Member State or third country of birth,
— in the Member State or third country where slaughter took

place,

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

Article 4

Size of a group

1.
During the cutting of carcases or quarters, the size of the
group referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 13(1)
of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 shall be defined by the
number of carcases or quarters cut together and constituting
one batch for the cutting plant concerned. This size may not,
in any case, exceed the production of one day.

During further cutting or mincing, a group may be recon-
2.
stituted from all the groups referred to in paragraph 1 put into
cutting or mincing on the same day.

(b) as from 1 September 2000 until 1 January 2002, the
indications referred to in points (a)(i) and (ii) and (b) of
Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000,
if the
Member State concerned has taken a decision to apply a
national compulsory labelling system including such infor-
mation or if the operator concerned indicates the informa-
tion, in conformity with Section II of Title II Regulation
(EC) No 1760/2000, on a voluntary basis,

(c) as from 1 January 2002, the indications referred to in
Article 13(5)(a)(i) and (ii) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/
2000.

Article 6

Approval procedures

1.
The period provided for in the second subparagraph of
Article 16(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, during which
an approval has not been refused or given or supplementary
information has not been asked for by the competent authority
of the Member State to which the beef is being sent, shall be
two months from the day following the date of submission of
the application.

2.
Pursuant to Article 16(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/
2000 for 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, where
no information is added to the initial label, the period provided
for in the second subparagraph of Article 16(3) of Regulation
(EC) No 1760/2000 shall be 14 days.

3.
For the purposes of Article 16(5) of Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000, beef in small retail packages which have been
labelled in a Member State according to an approved specifica-
tion may be introduced into the territory of another Member
State and marketed therein without prior approval of the label-
ling specification by this Member State, provided that:

(a) the packages in question remain unchanged;

(b) the specification approved by the Member State of pack-
aging also covers the marketing of the packaged beef in
other Member States;

(c) the Member State approving such a specification provides
all necessary information in advance to all other Member
States, where, according to the approved specification,
packaged beef is to be marketed.

Article 5

Minced beef

Article 7

Checks

For the purposes of

1.
is
defined as meat that has been minced into fragments or passed
through a spiral-screw mincer.

this Regulation, minced meat

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:

Operators and organisations shall at all times grant the
1.
experts of the Commission, the competent authority and the
relevant independent control body within the meaning of the
third subparagraph of Article 16(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000, access to its premises and to all records which
prove that the information on the labels concerned is correct.

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The competent authority and, in the case referred to in
2.
the third subparagraph of Article 16(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000,
the independent control body shall carry out
regular spot checks on the basis of risk analysis which shall
take into account, in particular, the complexity of the specifica-
tion concerned. 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 sanc-
tions imposed.

3. Where the option provided for in the third subparagraph
of Article 16(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 is not taken
up, Member States will carry out checks in such a way as to
give sufficient guarantees of the accuracy of the labels used.
Their frequency shall be determined, in particular, by reference
to the complexity of the specification concerned.

4.
Operators, organisations and independent control bodies
shall communicate all relevant information to the competent
authority.

Article 8

Approvals granted by third countries

1.
The Commission shall verify that notifications are
complete as provided for in Article 17(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000. On receipt of a notification which is incomplete,
the Commission shall inform the third country concerned indi-
cating the information which is required.

Complete notifications shall be transmitted to Member States
unless the Commission reaches the conclusion that the proced-
ures and/or criteria applied in the third country concerned are
not equivalent to the standards set out in Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000 in accordance with its power to do so pursuant to
the third subparagraph of Article 17(2) of that Regulation.

2.
If, at any time, the Commission considers, on the basis of
the notification provided for in Article 17(2) of Regulation (EC)
No 1760/2000, that it is appropriate to verify that the proced-
ures and/or criteria notified by a third country are currently
equivalent to the standards set out in Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000, the Commission may request the third country to
provide any necessary information. In particular, the Commis-
sion may request the third country to provide copies of the
specifications approved by the designated competent authority.
The Commission may further request the third country to
authorise representatives of
the Commission to carry out
checks in the third country.

If any information or authorisation requested pursuant to
3.
the preceding paragraph is not received within the time speci-
fied by the Commission, the Commission may conclude that
the procedures and/or criteria applied in a third country are not
equivalent to the standards set out in Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000.

4.
The Commission may at any time change its initial
decision as regards the equivalency of the procedures and/or
criteria applied in the third country concerned pursuant to the

third subparagraph of Article 17(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1760/2000.

Article 9

Sanctions

1. Member States shall determine the system of sanctions
that shall be applicable in case of breaches of Regulation (EC)
No 1760/2000 and shall take all necessary measures to ensure
its implementation. The sanctions provided for shall be effec-
tive, proportionate and dissuasive.

2. Without prejudice to the sanctions referred to in Article
18 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, where beef has been
labelled:

— without complying with the compulsory labelling system,

or

— in the case of application of the voluntary system, without
complying with the specification, or where there is no
approved specification,

Member States shall require the removal of the beef from the
market until it is re-labelled in conformity with this Regulation.

However,
if the meat concerned conforms with all existing
veterinary and hygiene rules, Member States may, in addition
to the sanctions referred to in paragraph 1, authorise that such
beef be sent directly for processing into products, other than
those indicated in the first indent of Article 12 of Regulation
(EC) No 1760/2000.

3.
Until 1 January 2001, the removal of beef meat from the
market shall only take place when the label contains informa-
tion which could mislead the consumer to a material degree or
does not conform with the approved specification.

Article 10

Records

The competent authority shall make a record of the approved
specifications and, in particular, of each operator and organ-
isation responsible for the labelling of the beef and the inde-
pendent body responsible for the checks.

Article 11

Communications

Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

(a) the names of the authorities competent for the imple-
mentation of the labelling system pursuant to Regulation
(EC) No 1760/2000 as well as the further detailed imple-
menting rules and, in particular, those concerning the rele-
vant checks to be carried out and the sanctions to be
applied;

(b) by 30 September 2000, a list of all voluntary indications

approved within their territory;

(c) every three months, an update of the list referred to in

point (b).

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Article 12

Transitional provision

On the condition that they are in conformity with Regulation
(EC) No 1760/2000 and with this Regulation,

(a) voluntary specifications approved under Articles 14 and 15
of Regulation (EC) No 820/97 shall continue to be valid;

(b) the national compulsory beef labelling systems, approved
under Article 19(4) of Regulation (EC) No 820/97, shall
continue to be valid until 1 January 2002, as well as any
further such decisions.

Article 13

Repeal

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

However,
animals slaughtered before 1 September 2000.

it shall remain applicable for meat derived from

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 14

Entry into force

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

It shall apply to beef derived from animals slaughtered from 1
September 2000.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 25 August 2000.

For the Commission

Philippe BUSQUIN

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

Correlation table

Regulation (EC) No 1141/97

This Regulation

Article 2

—

—

—

—

Article 1

Article 3

Article 4a

Article 4

Article 5(1)

Article 5(2)

—

—

Article 6

Article 1

Article 2

Article 3

Article 4

Article 5

Article 6

Article 7

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

Article 12

Article 13

Article 14