Commission Regulation (EC) No 1215/2003 of 7 July 2003 amending Regulation (EEC) No 344/91 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 1186/90 to extend the scope of the Community scale for the classification of carcasses of adult bovine animals
Date: 2003-07-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carcase, cattle, classification, meat processing industry

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Official Journal of the European Union

8.7.2003

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1215/2003

of 7 July 2003

amending Regulation (EEC) No 344/91 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation
(EEC) No 1186/90 to extend the scope of the Community scale for the classification of carcasses of
adult bovine animals

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1186/90 of 7
May 1990 extending the scope of the Community scale for the
classification of carcasses of adult bovine animals (1), as
amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and
Sweden, and in particular Article 2 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Articles 1 and 3 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No
344/91 (2), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1993/
95 (3), lay down detailed rules for carrying out, identi-
fying and checking the classification of carcasses of adult
bovines.

(2) With a view to authorising alternative methods to direct
visual assessment of conformation and fat cover, auto-
mated grading techniques may be introduced when they
are based on statistically proven methods. Authorisation
of automatic grading techniques should be subject to
compliance with certain conditions and requirements as
well as with a maximum tolerance for statistical error in
classification that should be specified.

(3)

(4)

Establishments using automated grading techniques for
the determination of the class of conformation and fat
cover should ensure that the category of the carcass is
identified in accordance with Article 3(1) of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81 of 28 April 1981 deter-
mining the Community scale for the classification of
carcasses of adult bovine animals (4), as amended by
Regulation (EEC) No 1026/91 (5). For the identification
of the category,
the establishments concerned should
make use of the system referred to in Title I of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for
the identification and registration of bovine animals and
regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (6).

In case the automated grading techniques refuse to clas-
sify carcasses due to technical problems, some flexibility
should be allowed to the extent that the classification
and identification of the carcasses concerned should in
those cases be carried out before the end of the daily
slaughter operations.

(1) OJ L 119, 11.5.1990, p. 32.
(2) OJ L 41, 14.2.1991, p. 15.
(3) OJ L 194, 17.8.1995, p. 7.
(4) OJ L 123, 7.5.1981, p. 3.
(5) OJ L 106, 26.4.1991, p. 2.
(6) OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Provision should be made for the possibility to modify,
after a licence was granted, the technical specifications
of the automated grading techniques with a view to
improving their accuracy. However, such modifications
should require the prior approval of
the competent
authorities that should ascertain that these modifications
result in a higher level of accuracy.

It is necessary to provide for regular on-the-spot checks
whereby the accuracy of the automated grading techni-
ques is verified on certain specific aspects. The frequency
of these checks should particularly be increased in the
initial period of 12 months after a licence was granted.

Regulation (EEC) No 344/91 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 344/91 is amended as follows:

1. Article 1 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 2 is amended as follows:

(i) the second indent is replaced by the following:

‘— in addition to the requirements mentioned in
paragraph 1, they must indicate the approval
number of the slaughterhouse, the identification
or slaughter number of the animal, the date of
slaughter, the weight of the carcase and, where
applicable,
the classification has been
carried out by using automated grading techni-
ques;’

that

(ii) the following subparagraph is added:

‘Where classification is carried out by using auto-
mated grading techniques, the use of labels shall be
compulsory.’;

(b) in paragraph 2a, the following subparagraph is added:

‘In cases where the automated grading techniques fail to
classify carcasses, classification and identification of
these carcasses must take place before the end of the
daily slaughter operations.’

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2. Article 3 is amended as follows:

Member States shall inform the Commission of any such
modifications for which they have given their approval.’;

(a) the following paragraphs 1a, 1b and 1c are inserted

after paragraph 1:

(b) paragraph 2 is amended as follows:

‘1a. Member States may grant a licence authorising
automated grading techniques for application in their
territory or a part thereof. Authorisation shall be subject
to meeting the conditions and minimum requirements
for a certification test laid down in Annex I. At least
two months prior to the start of the certification test,
Member States shall provide the Commission with the
information referred to in Annex II, part A. Member
States shall designate an independent body which shall
analyse the results of the certification test. Within two
months upon completion of
the certification test,
Member States shall provide the Commission with the
information referred to in Annex II, part B.

Where a licence is granted authorising automated
grading techniques based on a certification test during
which more than one carcass presentation was used, the
differences between those carcass presentations shall not
lead to differences in the classification results.

After having informed the Commission, Member States
may grant a licence authorising automated grading tech-
niques for application in their territory or a part thereof
without organising the certification test, provided such a
licence has already been granted for the same automated
grading techniques for application in another part of
that Member State concerned or in another Member
State on the basis of a certification test with a sample of
carcasses that they consider to be equally representative,
in terms of category, classes of conformation and of fat
cover, of the adult bovine animals slaughtered in the
Member State concerned or a part thereof.

Classification by automated grading techniques shall
only be valid if the carcass presentation is identical to
one that was used during the certification test.

Establishments operating classification by using

1b.
automated grading techniques shall:

— identify the category of the carcass; for this purpose
use shall be made of the system for the identification
and registration of bovine animals as referred to in
Title I of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000,

— keep daily control reports on the functioning of the
automated grading techniques,
including in parti-
cular any shortcomings encountered and actions
taken where necessary.

the technical specifications of
1c. Modifications of
the automated grading techniques for which a licence
was granted shall only be allowed after having obtained
the approval of
the
Member State concerned and subject to proof that such
modifications result in a higher level of accuracy than
that obtained during the certification test.

the competent authorities of

(a) the third subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘In all approved establishments operating classifica-
tion by using automated grading techniques, at least
six checks must be carried out every three months
during the first 12 months after the licence referred
to in paragraph 1a was granted. Thereafter checks
must be carried out at
twice every three
months in all approved establishments operating
classification by using automated grading techni-
ques. Each check must relate to at least 40 carcasses,
selected at random. The checks shall
in particular
verify:

least

— the category of the carcass,

— the accuracy of the automated grading techni-
ques by using the system of points and limits
referred to in Annex I(3),

— the carcass presentation,

— the daily calibration as well as any other tech-
nical aspects of the automated grading techni-
ques, that are relevant for ensuring that the level
of
automated
grading techniques is at least as good as the one
achieved during the certification test,

accuracy obtained by using

— the daily control reports referred to in paragraph

1b.

Where the body responsible for checks is the same
as that responsible for classification and identifica-
tion of the carcasses or where it does not fall under
the authority of a public body, the checks provided
for in the second and third subparagraphs must be
carried out under the physical supervision of a
public body under the same conditions and at least
once a year. The public body shall be informed regu-
larly of the findings of the body responsible for
checks.’;

(b) in the fourth subparagraph, point (b) is replaced by

the following:

‘(b) the licences provided for in paragraphs 1 and

1a may be revoked.’

3. Annex I and Annex II to this Regulation are added as Annex

I and Annex II.

Article 2

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

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

Done at Brussels, 7 July 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

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ANNEX I

‘ANNEX I

Conditions and minimum requirements for authorisation of automated grading techniques

1. The Member State concerned shall organise a certification test for a jury composed of at least five licensed experts in
classification of carcases of adult bovine animals. Two members of the jury will come from the Member State
performing the test. The other members of the jury will each come from another Member State. The jury shall
comprise an uneven number of experts. The Commission services and other Member States' experts may attend the
certification test as observers.

The members of the jury will work in an independent and anonymous way.

The Member State concerned will nominate a coordinator of the certification test who shall:

— not be part of the jury,

— have satisfactory technical knowledge and be fully independent,

— monitor the independent and anonymous functioning of the members of the jury,

— collect the classification results of the members of the jury and those obtained by using the automated grading

techniques,

— ensure that, during the entire duration of the certification test, the classification results obtained by using the
automated grading techniques shall not be available to any of the members of the jury and vice versa nor to any
other interested party,

— validate the classifications for each carcase and may decide, for objective reasons to be specified, to reject carcases

from the sample to be used for the analysis.

2. For the certification test:

— each of the classes of conformation and of fat cover shall be subdivided into three subclasses,

— a sample of at minimum 600 validated carcases shall be required,

— the percentage of failures shall be no more than 5 % of the carcases that are fit for classification by using auto-

mated grading techniques.

3. For each validated carcase, the median of the results of the members of the jury shall be considered as the correct

grade of that carcase.

To estimate the performance of the automated grading techniques, the results of the automated classification machine
shall, for each validated carcase, be compared to the median of the results of the jury. The resulting accuracy of the
grading by automated grading techniques is established by using a system of points that are attributed as follows:

Conformation

Fat cover

No error

Error of 1 unit (i.e. 1 subclass up or down)

Error of 2 units (i.e. 2 subclasses up or down)

Error of 3 units (i.e. 3 subclasses up or down)

Error of more than 3 units (i.e. more than 3 subclasses
up or down)

10

6

– 9

– 27

– 48

10

9

0

– 13

– 30

With a view to authorisation, the automated grading techniques should achieve at least 60 % of the maximum
number of points for both conformation and fat cover.

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In addition, the classification by using the automated grading techniques must be within the following limits:

Bias

Slope of the regression line

Conformation

± 0,30

1 ± 0,15

Fat cover

± 0,60

1 ± 0,30’

ANNEX II

‘ANNEX II

A. Information to be provided by Member States as regards the organisation of a certification test for

authorising automated grading techniques

— the dates on which the certification test shall take place,

— a detailed description of the carcasses of adult bovine animals classified in the Member State concerned or a part

thereof,

— the statistical methods used for selecting the sample of carcasses that shall be representative, in terms of category,
classes of conformation and of fat cover, of the adult bovine animals slaughtered in the Member State concerned
or a part thereof,

— the name and address of the abattoir(s) where the certification test shall take place, an explanation of the organi-

sation and performance of the processing line(s), including the speed per hour,

— the carcass presentation(s) that shall be used during the certification test,

— a description of the automated grading machine and its technical functions, in particular the security concept of

the machine against any type of manipulation,

— the licensed experts nominated by the Member State concerned to take part in the certification test as members

of the jury,

— the coordinator of the certification test, proving his satisfactory technical knowledge and full independence,

— the name and address of the independent body designated by the Member State concerned that shall analyse the

results of the certification test.

B. Information to be provided by Member States as regards the results of a certification test for authorising

automated grading techniques

— a copy of the classification sheets completed and signed by the members of the jury and by the coordinator

during the certification test,

— a copy of the classification results obtained by using automated grading techniques signed by the coordinator

during the certification test,

— a report of the coordinator on the organisation of the certification test in view of the conditions and minimum

requirements set out in Annex I,

— a quantitative analysis, according to a methodology to be agreed upon by the Commission, of the results of the
certification test indicating the classification results of each expert classifier and those obtained by using the auto-
mated grading techniques. The data used for the analysis must be provided in an electronic format to be agreed
upon by the Commission,

— the accuracy of the automated grading techniques established in accordance with the provisions in Annex I(3).’