COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION of the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for fresh, chilled and frozen meat of swine, sheep, goats and poultry
Date: 2021-08-10
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: consumer information, fresh meat, frozen product, goatmeat, labelling, originating product, pigmeat, poultrymeat, refrigerated product, sheepmeat

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 10.8.2021  SWD(2021) 220 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  of the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for fresh, chilled and frozen meat of swine, sheep, goats and poultry     {SWD(2021) 218 final}  
 
 
The  evaluation  analysed  the  effectiveness,  efficiency,  relevance,  coherence  and  EU  added 
value of the mandatory origin labelling rules for meats of swine, sheep, goat and poultry, as 
set out in Regulation (EU) 1337/2013 (the ‘Regulation’). The evaluation covered the EU-28 
and the period from the date of application of the Regulation on 1 April 2015.  
The evaluation was mainly based on the corresponding external support study1, supplemented 
by an analysis of the opinion of relevant stakeholders, collected through various consultation 
activities.  The  Commission  deemed  the  sources  of  evidence  to  be  accurate  and  relatively 
robust  for  the  purposes  of  the  evaluation.  It  should  be  noted  however,  that  certain  data 
limitations  led  to  less  granular  results  and  an  uneven  level  of  detail  for  the  respective 
evaluation criteria. The main findings of the evaluation are summarised in the points below. 

 

 

The  evaluation  concluded  that  the  objectives  of  the  Regulation  have  been  met  and 
remained  relevant  despite  a  changing  context,  in  particular  the  increasing  consumer 
demand for more extensive information on food labels.  
The  evaluation  also  confirmed  the  coherence  of  the  Regulation  with  other  EU  and 
national legislation.  

 

  Consumers consider origin labelling to be important information in their meat-purchase 
decisions,  and  accept  the  rules  set  out  in  the  Regulation.  Nevertheless,  their 
understanding of Regulation terms and definitions used on labels is low, casting doubt 
on the clarity and final utility of the information provided to consumers.  
The information on origin/provenance is sufficient to ensure correct meat labelling and 
can  generally  be  verified  (checked)  by  the  competent  authorities  of  Member  States. 
Although no systemic issues were identified, differences in the robustness of checks and 
monitoring have been apparent between Member States. Monitoring costs related to the 
Regulation have been small, as these costs have mostly been integrated by operators in 
wider  changes  to  monitoring  required  in  the  Official  Controls  Regulation  (EU) 
2017/625.  
The  mandatory  origin-labelling  rules  have  been  enforced  effectively  and  efficiently, 
without  unnecessary  burdens  on  the  meat  supply  chain  and  national  administrations. 
This has been facilitated by derogations for minced meat, trimmings and imported meat. 
The effect of the rules on market and trade dynamics has been marginal, with the cost of 
adaptation absorbed in the supply chain and not passed on to consumers.  

 

The evaluation identified room for: 
 

improvement  in  consumer  understanding  of  the  EU  labelling  rules  for  the  concerned 
meats,  notably  how  these  rules  are  applied  in  practice,  and  the  overall  relationship 
between food safety and quality; 
further  analysis of  coherence,  and potential harmonisation of the derogations under the 
Regulation with derogations applicable to other meats and foods; 
further  exchanges  and  collection  of  good  practices  on  monitoring  and  checks  in  origin 
labelling for the concerned meats; 

 

 

  continuous monitoring of the impact of the origin-labelling rules on the EU single market 

and on the environment.  

The experience gained from the implementation and assessment of the Regulation contributes 
to the European Commission’s report to the European Parliament and the Council evaluating 
mandatory  origin  labelling  for  the  concerned  meats.  It  will  also  be  relevant  for  a  broader 
assessment of food labelling and information to consumers under the ‘farm-to-fork’ strategy.  

1  https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/cmef/products-and-

markets/mandatory-indication-country-origin-labelling-certain-meats_en