Council Regulation (EC) No 1183/2006 of  24 July 2006  concerning the Community scale for the classification of carcasses of adult bovine animals (codified version)
Date: 2006-07-24
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: agricultural product nomenclature, carcase, cattle, codification of EU law, common organisation of markets, meat processing industry

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(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1183/2006

of 24 July 2006

concerning the Community scale for the classification of carcasses of adult bovine animals

(codified version)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Article 2

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof,

establishing the European

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Council Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81 of 28 April 1981
determining the Community scale for the classification of
carcasses of adult bovine animals (3) has been substan-
tially amended (4).
clarity and
In the
rationality the said Regulation should be codified.

interests of

A Community grading scale for the classification of
carcasses of adult bovine animals should be applied for
recording prices and for intervention in the beef and veal
sector.

The classification of carcasses of adult bovine animals
should be made on the basis of conformation and the
degree of fat cover. The combination of these two criteria
enables carcasses to be divided into classes. Carcasses
thus classified should be identified.

In order to ensure the uniform application of this Regu-
lation in the Community, provision should be made for
on-the-spot
inspection
committee,

a Community

checks

by

(a)

‘carcass’:
presented
presented:

the whole body of a slaughtered animal as
skinning,

evisceration

bleeding,

after

and

— without the head and without the feet; the head shall be
separated from the carcass at the atloido-occipital joint
and the feet shall be severed at the carpametacarpal or
tarsometatarsal joints,

— without

the organs contained in the thoracic and
the

the kidneys,

abdominal cavities with or without
kidney fat and the pelvic fat,

— without the sexual organs and the attached muscles and

without the udder or the mammary fat;

(b) ‘half-carcass’: the product obtained by separating the carcass
referred to in point (a) symmetrically through the middle of
each cervical, dorsal,
lumbar and sacral vertebra and
through the middle of the sternum and the ischiopubic
symphysis.

Article 3

For the purpose of establishing market prices, the carcass shall
be presented without the removal of external fat, the neck being
cut in accordance with veterinary requirements:

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

— without kidneys, kidney fat, or pelvic fat,

This Regulation provides for a Community classification scale
for the carcasses of adult bovine animals.

— without thin skirt or thick skirt,

(1) Opinion of the European Parliament of 27 April 2006 (not yet

published in the Official Journal).

(2) OJ C 65, 17.3.2006, p. 50.
(3) OJ L 123, 7.5.1981, p. 3. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EEC) No 1026/91 (OJ L 106, 26.4.1991, p. 2).

(4) See Annex III.

— without the tail,

— without the spinal cord,

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— without cod fat,

— without fat on the inside of topside,

— without jugular vein and the adjacent fat.

However, Member States shall be authorised to accept different
presentations 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 in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 43(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 of
17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in
beef and veal (1).

Article 4

1. Without prejudice to the intervention rules applying, the
carcasses of adult bovine animals shall be divided into the
following categories:

A. carcasses of uncastrated young male animals of less than

two years of age;

B. carcasses of other uncastrated male animals;

C. carcasses of castrated male animals;

D. carcasses of female animals that have calved;

optional introduction of a conformation class superior to the
existing classes (double-muscled carcasses), of the characteristics
or expected development of a particular form of production.

Member States which intend to make use of this possibility shall
notify
States
accordingly.

the Commission and

the other Member

4. Member States shall be authorised to subdivide each of the
classes provided for in Annexes I and II into a maximum of
three subclasses.

Article 5

1.
Carcasses or half-carcasses shall be classified as soon as
possible after slaughter and such classification shall be carried
out in the slaughterhouse itself.

2.

The classified carcasses or half-carcasses shall be identified.

3.
Before identification by marking, Member States shall be
authorised to have the external fat removed from the carcasses
or half-carcasses if this is justified by the fat cover.

The conditions in which removal of the external fat will be
applied shall be determined in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 43(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999.

E. carcasses of other female animals.

Article 6

Criteria shall be laid down for differentiating between categories
of carcasses in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 43(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999.

The carcasses of adult bovine animals shall be classified by

2.
successive assessment of:

(a) conformation, as defined in Annex I;

(b) fat cover, as defined in Annex II.

shall be

inspections

On-the-spot

1.
carried out by a
Community inspection committee composed of experts from
the Commission and experts appointed by the Member States.
This Committee shall report back to the Commission on the
inspections carried out.

The Commission shall,
take the measures
necessary to ensure that the classification is carried out in a
uniform manner.

if appropriate,

Those inspections
Community, which shall bear the resulting costs.

shall be carried out on behalf of

the

3.
The conformation class designated in Annex I by the letter
S may be used by Member States to take account, through the

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 21. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1913/2005 (OJ L 307, 25.11.2005, p. 2).

2.
The detailed rules for applying paragraph 1 shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 43(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999.

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Article 7

Additional provisions specifying the definition of the classes
of conformation and fat cover shall be adopted in accordance
with the procedure referred to in Article 43(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 1254/1999.

Article 8

Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81 shall be repealed.

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

Article 9

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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

Done at Brussels, 24 July 2006.

For the Council
The President

M. PEKKARINEN

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ANNEX I

CONFORMATION

Development of carcass profiles, in particular the essential parts (round, back, shoulder)

Conformation class

Description

S
Superior

E
Excellent

U
Very good

R
Good

O
Fair

P
Poor

All profiles extremely convex; exceptional muscle development (double-muscled carcass type)

All profiles convex to super-convex; exceptional muscle development

Profiles on the whole convex; very good muscle development

Profiles on the whole straight; good muscle development

Profiles straight to concave; average muscle development

All profiles concave to very concave; poor muscle development

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ANNEX II

DEGREE OF FAT COVER

Amount of fat on the outside of the carcass and in the thoracic cavity

Class of fat cover

Description

1
low

2
slight

3
average

4
high

5
very high

None up to low fat cover

Slight fat cover, flesh visible almost everywhere

Flesh, with the exception of
the round and shoulder,
almost everywhere covered with fat, slight deposits of fat
in the thoracic cavity

Flesh covered with fat, but on the round and shoulder still
partly visible, some distinctive fat deposits in the thoracic
cavity

Entire carcass covered with fat; heavy fat deposits in the
thoracic cavity

ANNEX III

Repealed Regulation with its amendment

Council Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81

(OJ L 123, 7.5.1981, p. 3)

Council Regulation (EEC) No 1026/91

(OJ L 106, 26.4.1991, p. 2)

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ANNEX IV

Correlation table

Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81

This Regulation

Article 1

Article 2(1)

Article 2(2)

Article 3(1)

Article 3(2), first subparagraph

Article 1

Article 2

Article 3

Article 4(1)

Article 4(2)

Article 3(2), second and third subparagraphs

Article 4(3), first and second subparagraphs

Article 3(3)

Article 4

Article 4(4)

Article 5

Article 5, first, second and third subparagraphs

Article 6(1), first, second, and third subparagraphs

Article 5, fourth paragraph

Article 6, first paragraph

Article 6, second, third and fourth subparagraphs
—

Article 7

Annexes I and II
—

—

Article 6(2)

Article 7
—

Article 8

Article 9

Annexes I and II

Annex III

Annex IV