REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing 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
Date: 2019-02-11
Institutions: Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
Subjects: beef, cattle, consumer information, delegated legislation, health control, labelling, meat product, powers of the institutions (EU), product designation, transfer of competence

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 11.2.2019  COM(2019) 76 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing 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  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation 
(EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing 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. 

Introduction and legal basis 

Article 22b(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council1 (hereinafter 'the Bovine Identification Regulation') requires the Commission to 
present  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the  Council  a  report  on  the  exercise  of  the 
delegation conferred on the Commission by that Regulation. The report is to be drawn 
up not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period of the delegation, 
starting from 17 July 2014. The delegation of power is to be tacitly extended for periods 
of  an  identical  duration,  unless  the  European  Parliament  or  the  Council  opposes  such 
extension not later than three months before the end of each period. 

2. 

Exercise of the delegation 

Article  22b(2)  of  the  Bovine  Identification  Regulation  applies  to  the  power  to  adopt 
delegated acts conferred on the Commission by Articles 4(1), 4(3), 4(5), 4a(2), 5, 6(2), 
7(1), 7(2), 7(6), 13(6), 14 and 15a of that Regulation. 

More specifically: 

(a)  Article 4(1) of the Bovine Identification Regulation empowers the Commission to 
add the means of identification to the list set out in Annex I, whilst ensuring their 
operability,  in  order  to  ensure  the  adaptation  to  technical  progress  for  means  of 
identification.  In  this  respect,  there  is  currently  no  technological  development 
reported  regarding  new  means  of  identification  of  bovine  animals.    Therefore, 
further  technical  progress  needs  to  be  reported  before  proceeding  with  the 
preparation of a delegated act in relation to new means of identification of bovine 
animals; 

(b)  Article 4(3) of the Bovine Identification Regulation empowers the Commission to 
adopt the requirements for the means of identification set out in Annex I, and the 
transitional  measures  required  for  the  introduction  of  a  particular  means  of 
identification.  On  the  basis  of  the  predecessor  to  this  empowerment,  former 
Article 10(a), the Commission has adopted the requirements for the conventional 
ear  tags  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  911/20042.    Since  the  Bovine  Identification 
Regulation  is  to  be  amended  by  Regulation  (EU)  2016/4293  by  deleting  the 
Articles 1 to 10, the requirements for the electronic means of identification shall 
be  adopted  by  the  Commission  in  accordance  with  empowerments  conferred  on 

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Regulation (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 and repealing Council 
Regulation (EC) No 820/97 (OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1). 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 911/2004 of 29 April 2004 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council as regards, ear tags, passports and holding registers (OJ L 163, 30.4.2004, p. 65). 
Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on transmissible animal diseases and 
amending and repealing certain acts in the area of animal health (‘Animal Health Law’) (OJ L 84, 31.3.2016, p. 1). 

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the  Commission  by  the  Articles  118(1)(a)  and  120(2)(c)  of  the  Animal  Health 
Law; 

(c)  Article 4(5) of the Bovine Identification Regulation empowers the Commission to 
adopt  the  requirements  for  the  alternative  means  of  identification  applied  to 
bovine  animals  intended  for  cultural  and  sporting  events,  other  than  fairs  and 
exhibitions, including transitional measures required for their introduction. On the 
basis  of  the  predecessor  to  this  empowerment,  former  Article  4(1),  the 
Commission has adopted such requirements by Regulation (EC) No 644/20054; 

(d)  Article 4a(2) of  the Bovine Identification Regulation empowers the Commission 
to determine the special circumstances  under which Member States may  extend 
the maximum periods for the application of the means of identification.  By way 
of  Decisions  2004/764/EC5  and  2006/28/EC6,  specific  requirements  have  been 
adopted  for  bovine  animals  kept  in  nature  reserves  in  the  Netherlands  and  for 
calves  of  suckler  cows  that  are  not  used  for  milk  production  (before  the  Bovine 
Identification  Regulation  was  amended  by  Regulation  (EU)  No  653/20147).  At 
this stage, no additional circumstances have been discussed which would require 
the adoption of specific requirements by way of a delegated act; 

(e)  Articles  5  and  6(2)  of  the  Bovine  Identification  Regulation  empowers  the 
Commission  to  lay  down  rules  concerning  the  data  to  be  exchanged  between 
computerised  databases  of  Member  States  and  the  information  from  the 
computerised database to be included in the animal passport, including transitional 
measures.  Since  the  Bovine  Identification  Regulation  is  to  be  amended  by 
Regulation  (EU) 2016/4293 by deleting the Articles 1 to  10, those rules shall be 
adopted by the Commission in accordance with empowerments conferred on the 
Commission by the Articles 118(1)(b) and 118(1)(c) of the Animal Health Law; 

(f)  Articles 7(1) of the  Bovine  Identification Regulation  empowers the Commission 
to determine the exceptional circumstances in which Member States may extend 
the maximum time period within which keepers of bovine animals are obliged to 
report to the competent  authority all movements to and from the holding and all 
births and deaths of animals of the holding. On the basis of the predecessor to this 
empowerment,  former  Article  7(1), 
the  Commission  has  adopted  such 
requirements by way of Regulation (EC) No 911/20042; 

(g)  Article 7(2) of the Bovine Identification Regulation empowers the Commission to 
list the Member States or part of Member States where special rules for seasonal 
grazing shall apply, including the time period, specific obligations of the keepers, 
and rules on the holding registration and registration of movements of such bovine 
animals.  Since 
those  rules  by  Decision 
2001/672/EC8,  no  additional  circumstances  have  been  discussed  which  would 
require the adoption of specific requirements by way of a delegated act; 

the  Commission  has  adopted 

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Commission Regulation (EC) No 644/2005 of 27 April 2005 authorising a special identification system for bovine animals kept for 
cultural and historical purposes on approved premises as provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council (OJ L 107, 28.4.2005, p. 18). 
Commission Decision 2004/764/EC of 22 October 2004 concerning an extension of the maximum period laid down for the 
application of eartags to certain bovine animals kept in nature reserves in the Netherlands (OJ L 339, 16.11.2004, p. 9). 
Commission Decision 2006/28/EC of 18 January 2006 on extension of the maximum period for applying eartags to certain bovine 
animals (OJ L 19, 24.1.2006, p. 32). 
Regulation (EU) No 653/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 amending Regulation (EC) 
No 1760/2000 as regards electronic identification of bovine animals and labelling of beef (OJ L 189, 27.6.2014, p. 33). 
Commission Decision 2001/672/EC of 20 August 2001 laying down special rules applicable to movements of bovine animals when 
put out to summer grazing in mountain areas (OJ L 235, 4.9.2001, p. 23). 

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(h)  Article 7(6) of the Bovine Identification Regulation empowers the Commission to 
lay down the rules  on the information  to  be included in  the holding register. On 
the  basis  of  the  predecessor  to  this  empowerment,  former  Article  10(c),  the 
Commission has adopted such requirements by Regulation (EC) No 911/20042; 

(i)   Article 13(6) of the Bovine  Identification Regulation empowers the Commission 
to determine simplified origin labelling provisions for cases of very short stay of 
an animal in the Member State or third country of birth or of slaughter, to avoid 
unnecessary  repetition.  On  the  basis  of  the  predecessor  to  this  empowerment, 
former  Article  19,  the  Commission  has  laid  down  such  rules  in  Article  3  of 
Regulation (EC) No 1825/20009;  

(j)  Article 14 of the Bovine Identification Regulation empowers the Commission to 
lay  down  equivalent  rules  to  those  for  minced  meat,  for  the  labelling  of  beef 
trimmings  and  cut  beef.  On  the  basis  of  the  predecessor  to  this  empowerment, 
former  Article  19,  the  Commission  has  adopted  such  requirements  by  way  of 
Regulation (EC) No 1825/20009; 

(k)  Article 15a of the Bovine Identification Regulation empowers the Commission to 
set up definitions and requirements applicable to terms or categories of terms that 
may be voluntarily put  on the label  by operators. Since the simplification of the 
voluntary  labelling  by  Regulation  (EU)  No  653/20147  amending  the  Bovine 
Identification  Regulation,  there  were  no  circumstances  indicating  a  need  to 
regulate such definitions and requirements by way of a delegated act.        

3.  Conclusion 

So far, the Commission has supplemented the requirements of the Bovine Identification 
Regulation concerning matters referred to in Articles 4(3), 4(5), 7(1), 7(6), 13(6) and 14 
of that Regulation.  

At  this  stage,  the  Commission  does  not  consider  proceeding  with  the  preparation  of 
delegated  acts  in  relation  to  the  delegated  power  referred  to  in  Article  15a  since  no 
specific  need  to  further  harmonise  voluntary  beef  labelling  has  been  identified. 
Furthermore, the existing horizontal rules on food information to consumers provided in 
Regulation (EU) No 1169/201110 are regarded as sufficient. 

The  Commission  does  at  this  stage  not  consider  to  proceed  with  the  preparation  of 
delegated  acts  in  relation  to  any  of  the  delegated  powers  referred  to  in  Articles  4(1), 
4a(2), 5, 6(2) or 7(2) of the Bovine Identification Regulation since this Regulation is to 
be amended by Regulation (EU) 2016/4293 by deleting Articles 1 to 10 as from 21 April 
2021.  

The  Commission  is  of  the  view  that  any  new  requirements  or  rules  on  bovine  animal 
identification  should  be  adopted  based  on  delegated  powers  conferred  upon  the 
Commission by the Animal Health Law. 

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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 (OJ L 216, 
26.8.2000, p. 8). 
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food 
information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, 
Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004 (OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, p. 18). 

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