REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the sales designations and carcass classification in the sheepmeat and goatmeat sector
Date: 2024-06-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: agricultural product nomenclature, carcase, common organisation of markets, goatmeat, marketing standard, product designation, sheepmeat

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 3.6.2024  COM(2024) 228 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the sales designations and carcass classification in the sheepmeat and goatmeat sector       
 
 
Contents 

1 

Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2 

2  Approach and tools ............................................................................................................. 2 

3  Analysis of regulatory framework ...................................................................................... 3 

3.1  Carcass classification .................................................................................................. 3 

3.1.1 

3.1.2 

Antecedent ........................................................................................................... 3 

Current situation................................................................................................... 4 

3.2 

Sales designation ......................................................................................................... 5 

3.3  Market information ..................................................................................................... 6 

4  Views of Member States and stakeholders ......................................................................... 7 

4.1  Respondents’ assessment on carcass classification ..................................................... 7 

4.2  Respondents’ assessment on sales designations.......................................................... 8 

4.3  Respondents’ additional comments ............................................................................. 8 

5  Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 8 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
1 

Introduction 

Pursuant  to  Article 225(dd)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No 1308/2013  (the  CMO  Regulation)1,  the 
Commission is to submit to the European Parliament and the Council, by 30 June 2024, a report 
on sales designations and carcass classification in the sheepmeat and goatmeat sector. 

The objectives of this report are: 

– 

– 

to  review  existing  rules  on  carcass  classification  and  sales  designation  for  the 
sheepmeat and goatmeat sector; and 
to ascertain the necessity or not of further regulation on this matter. 

2  Approach and tools 

To  collect  expert  views  on  the  implementation  of  carcass  classification  and  use  of  sales 
designations  in  the  sheepmeat  and  goatmeat  sectors,  two  surveys  were  prepared  by  the 
Commission in February 2023. One was addressed to Member States through the Expert Group 
for  the  Common  Organisation  of  the  Agricultural  Markets,  and  the  second  to  stakeholder 
members of the Civil Dialogue Group on Animal Production. 

The  Commission  informed  Member  States  and  stakeholders  of  both  the  purpose  and  the 
schedule of the consultation prior to its launch and reminded them subsequently of the need for 
their participation in the survey. The Commission received input from 26 Member States (all 
except  France),  and  from  only  four  stakeholders  belonging  to  organisations  from  Spain, 
Austria, and Portugal. 

Additionally, the present report is supported by: 

–  analysis of current and previous legislation relevant to the scope of the report. 
– 
findings from reports, evaluations, and audits carried out by the Commission. 
–  statistical data available for agricultural products, and 
–  contributions  from  experts  of  the  Expert  Group  on  Carcass  Classification,  and 

stakeholders of the Civil Dialogue Group on the sheep and goat market. 

3  Analysis of regulatory framework 

3.1  Carcass classification 

3.1.1  Antecedent 

From  their  introduction  in  19922,  both  classification  and  price  reporting  according  to  the 
Community scale for carcass classification were voluntary for ovine animals. This differs from 

1 Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing 
a  common  organisation  of  the  markets  in  agricultural  products  and  repealing  Council  Regulations  (EEC) 
No 922/72,  (EEC)  No 234/79,  (EC)  No 1037/2001  and  (EC)  No 1234/2007  (OJ  L  347,  20.12.2013,  p. 671, 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1308/oj). 
2 Council Regulation (EEC) No 2137/92 of 23 July 1992 concerning the Community scale for the classification 
of carcases of ovine animals and determining the Community standard quality of fresh or chilled sheep carcases 
2 

 
 
 
the beef and pigmeat sectors, where the Union scale for carcass classification is compulsory, 
with derogations for small slaughterhouses, depending on Member State implementation. 

Additional detailed rules, including more specific descriptions of the categories and fat classes, 
were  laid  down  in  19933.  The  Community  scale  entered  into  force  on  6 March  1993  with 
provisions for price reporting based on classification with effect for the first time on 8 April 
1993 at the latest. Based on these provisions, at the beginning of 1995, the Office for Official 
Publications  of  the  European  Communities  published  brochures,  in  most  Union  languages, 
issued by the European Commission explaining the grid scales for the classification of sheep 
carcasses. 

Initially, one of the long-term objectives for the Union scale for carcass classification was to 
provide the basis for a new definition of standard quality of sheep carcasses based on a Union 
grid  for  determining  prices  and  calculating  the  premium.  The  Union  scale  for  carcass 
classification was intended to become a quality control for commercial transactions between 
sheep producers and meat processors. For lighter lamb carcasses, the conformation score was 
not considered as evaluating them equitably. This was because it would systematically penalise 
their naturally poor morphology (long-legged breeds) and reduced subcutaneous/internal fat 
ratio  together  with  low  weight.  Therefore,  a  different  system  was  developed  for  the 
classification of lamb carcasses weighing less than 13 kg. 

Council Regulation (EEC) No 2137/92 required the Commission, under Article 9, to submit a 
report  to  the  Council  to  evaluate  the  possibility  to  implement  compulsory  sheep  carcass 
classification. In its report published in 19974, the Commission noted the very limited use made 
by operators of the carcass classification grid and concluded that sheep carcass classification 
should continue to be applied by Member States on a voluntary basis. 

The  reform  put  in  place  by  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 2529/20015  on  the  common 
organisation of markets in sheepmeat and goatmeat changed the way in which the annual ewe 
premium was calculated. Accordingly, the Commission issued a second report to the Council 
in  20026, to  analyse  again the possible mandatory use of the  Union scale for sheep.  In this 
second report, the Commission continued to recommend the use of the grid on a non-obligatory 
basis due to a lack of progress in implementing carcass classification in many Member States. 

The  former  Community  group  for  the  inspection  of  the  classification  grid  for  sheepmeat 
carcasses, provided for under Regulation (EEC) No 2137/92, carried out inspection visits to 
several Member States in the period 1993-2000, with a view initially to align grading standards 

L 

(OJ 

214, 

extending 

30.7.1992, 

Regulation 

(EEC)  No 338/91 

and 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1992/2137/oj). 
3 Commission Regulation (EEC) No 461/93 of 26 February 1993 laying down detailed rules for the Community 
scale  for 
the  classification  of  carcases  of  ovine  animals  (OJ  L  49,  27.2.1993,  p. 70-74,  ELI: 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1993/461/oj). 
4 Report from the Commission on the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2137/92 concerning the 
Community scale for the classification of carcasses of ovine animals and determining the Community standard 
quality of fresh or chilled sheep carcasses and extending Regulation (EEC) No 338/91, COM/97/0250 final. 
5 Council Regulation (EC) No 2529/2001 of 19 December 2001 on the common organisation of the market in 
sheepmeat and goatmeat (OJ L 341, 22.12.2001, p. 3-14, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2001/2529/oj). 
6 Report from the Commission to the Council on the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2137/92 
concerning the Community scale for the classification of carcasses of ovine animals, COM/2002/0295 final. 

p. 1-5, 

ELI: 

3 

 
 
 
among  national  experts,  and  to  ensure  that  these  standards  were  adhered  to  in  the 
slaughterhouses visited. 

The group found that most stakeholders were not convinced to apply and pay sheepmeat based 
on  the  classification  scale;  only  in  France,  Finland  and  Sweden  was  the  Union  scale 
significantly  developed.  Most  producers  sold  sheep  on  a  live  weight  basis  directly  to 
slaughterhouses,  and,  where  classification  was  practised,  it  was  principally  to  meet  the 
slaughterhouse or customer requirements. 

Furthermore, the existence of different carcass presentations undermined transparency, which 
the grid was designated to promote, and lambs were sold at the same base price irrespective of 
carcass composition or grade. Comparison of prices quoted on a carcass weight basis was, from 
a producer perspective, confusing and misleading. 

3.1.2  Current situation 

The current provisions for sheep carcass classification are laid down in point C.III of Annex 
IV  to  Regulation  (EU)  No 1308/2013  (the  CMO  Regulation),  in  Commission  Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 2017/11827 and in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/11848. 

Two different schemes exist for the voluntary classification of sheep carcasses, as follows. 

–  One  is  for  sheep  carcasses  weighing  13 kg  or  more,  generally  referred  to  as  the 
‘SEUROP grid’, where carcasses are visually classified based on their conformation 
and  degree  of  fat  cover.  As  for  bovine,  conformation  classes  (S,  E,  U,  R,  O  and  P) 
describe the development of carcass profiles, especially high-value parts (hindquarter, 
back, shoulder), and indicates the sum of muscle and fat in relation to the bones. Fatness 
class (from 1 to 5) describes the amount of visible fat on the outside of the carcass. 
–  The second is for lamb carcasses weighing less than  13 kg, which describes  weight, 
meat colour and fat cover, generally referred to as the ‘A grid’. Thus, only weight (three 
categories: <7.0 kg carcass weight (cw); 7.1-10 kg cw; and 10.1-13 kg cw), meat colour 
and class of fat cover are considered. 

No legal provisions exist concerning carcass classification of goats. 

Nowadays, due to a lower volume of production, carcass classification of sheep and goats in 
the Union still plays a secondary role compared to that of bovines and pigs. Only Bulgaria, 
France, Croatia, Finland, and Sweden confirmed, at the expert group on carcass classification 
held on 11 October 2023, the use of sheep classification according to the Union scale on their 
territories.  In  these  Member  States,  during  2022,  277  slaughterhouses  classified  4 420 782 
carcasses of sheep,  out  of which 602 018 were  adult (i.e., sheep older than 12 months) and 

7  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2017/1182  of  20 April  2017  supplementing  Regulation  (EU) 
No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the Union scales for the classification of 
beef, pig and sheep carcasses and as regards the reporting of market prices of certain categories of carcasses and 
live animals (OJ L 171, 4.7.2017, p. 74-99, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2017/1182/oj. 
8Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1184 of 20 April 2017 laying down rules for the application 
of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the Union scales for 
the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses and as regards the reporting of market prices of certain categories 
of 
ELI: 
and 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2017/1184/oj). 

p. 103-112, 

4.7.2017, 

carcasses 

animals 

171, 

live 

(OJ 

L 

4 

 
 
 
3 818 764 were lambs  (i.e., sheep younger than 12  months).  However, that  represented less 
than 12% of the total throughput of sheep for the Union as a whole. Classification was more 
relevant  in  the  heavy  lamb  category  than  in  the  light  lamb  category,  where  only  111 130 
carcasses were classified from a Union output in 2022 of more than 13.8 million carcasses. No 
automated grading methods are currently authorised in the EU. 

In addition, the Union scale for carcass classification   does not play a significant role in most 
Member States  when  reporting  lamb prices.  In  2022, only  103  sheep  abattoirs applying the 
Union scale reported quotations to their competent authorities based on classification results. 
In  Croatia,  prices  reported  from  the  classification  grid  totalled  40.8%  of  national  annual 
slaughtering. Recording of prices from key producing Member States - Greece, Spain, Italy, 
Portugal, and Romania - significantly comes from direct marketing of lamb at live or auction 
markets.  In  comparison,  slaughterhouse  purchases  are  predominant  in  Belgium,  Ireland, 
France, Latvia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden. Most of lamb quotations reported to authorities 
are calculated from batches of lambs sold on a head, live or carcass weight basis. 

Extending the use of the Union scale to goat carcasses does not appear feasible. A standard 
quality  would  be  difficult  to  establish  based  on  the  EU  grids  for  sheep  carcasses  since 
definitions based on age, weight and fat criteria and type of production differ substantially. In 
fact, when compared to sheep carcasses of the same age and gender, goat carcasses are smaller 
and have a lower amount  of covering fat. The carcass  yield  tends  to  be less,  mainly  due to 
reduced  carcass  fat  content  since  fattening  occurs  much  later  in  the  growth  process  while 
moisture and drip losses can sometimes be quite high (up to 8%). 

Additionally,  a  major  feature  of  goat  carcasses  is  that  almost  all  parts  of  the  carcass  are 
consumed in some countries, and since, in many cases, the head is not removed, it makes the 
practical use of a reference presentation difficult to set. 

3.2  Sales designation 

Sheep and goat products are not covered by the provisions on marketing standards of the CMO 
Regulation. 

Nevertheless,  whereas  goatmeat  is  not  differentiated  into  different  categories,  distinction  of 
sheep categories is  well  established. In Annex I to the CMO Regulation, Part XVIII covers 
sheepmeat and goatmeat and live sheep and goats, under which lambs are defined as sheep up 
to 1 year old. In contrast, Annex IV, Part C defines the categories of classified sheep carcasses 
by use of letter A for sheep under 12 months old and letter B for other sheep. In fact, the term 
'lamb' is also mentioned in relation to the delegated powers provided for under Article 19(6)(c) 
of the CMO Regulation for the classification of light lambs, whereas in Article 21 of the CMO 
Regulation on other implementing powers, the Commission should adopt implementing acts to 
authorise Member States to use specified criteria for the classification of lambs of less than 
13 kg of carcass weight. 

Moreover, in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182, the term 'lamb' appears in 
recital 6, in Articles 3(2) and 21 and in Annex III. Under Article 13, part (a) point (iv), Member 
States  have  the  obligation  to  report  market  prices  for  carcasses  of  sheep  aged  less  than  12 
months. Under Article 11 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1184, market 
prices  are  to  be  recorded  for  sheep  carcasses  under  two  weight  categories  defined  as  ‘light 

5 

 
 
lambs’ (less than 13 kg carcass weight) and ‘heavy lambs’ (13 kg carcass weight or more). No 
other Union legal provisions exist concerning the recording of market prices for other sheep 
and goat carcasses. 

Beyond  the  CMO  Regulation,  the  terms  for  lamb  and  kid  meats  do  appear  explicitly 
differentiated from other sheep and goat meat categories in the Union Combined Nomenclature 
of 20229. In that Commission Implementing Regulation, lambs are defined as animals up to 1 
year  old  for  Chapters  1,  2,  4,  15,  16,  41,  43  and  51  respectively,  while  the  term  ‘kid’  is 
mentioned in headnote 1 (c) to Chapter 41 (hides and skins), in heading 4106 and in line 4113 
10  00.  Additionally,  in  Article 31(1)  of  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU) 
2020/198810 regarding first come, first served tariff rate quotas, the term  ‘kid’ is defined as 
goat of up to 1 year old. 

In Annex I to Regulation No 1165/200811 concerning livestock and meat statistics, in point 2 
on definitions for categories of sheep, the term lamb designates male or female sheep under 12 
months of age. 

3.3  Market information 

For  sheepmeat,  the  Commission  has  established  provisions  for  reporting  prices  of  lamb 
carcasses,  since  demand  for  meat  from  animals  slaughtered  at  a  younger  age  is  more 
representative for market transparency purposes. 

Under Article 25(2)(c) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182, Member States 
must notify the Commission each year of the total number of sheep slaughtered in the previous 
calendar year broken down per weight category. 

For goatmeat, the Commission collects twice a year information on average prices based on a 
survey sent to experts of the Civil Dialogue Group on Animal Production. 

The Commission held a sheep meat forum that brought together representatives  of Member 
States  with  significant  production,  as  well  as  producers,  processors,  and  traders,  to  explore 
current and future challenges of the Union sheep meat sector. Following this, in October 2016, 
the  Commission  brought  forward  a  dashboard  for  sheep  and  goats  to  provide  weekly 
information on market prices, production and trade in the Union and in non-EU countries. 

9  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2021/1832  of  12 October  2021  amending  Annex  I  to  Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff 
(OJ L 385, 29.10.2021, p. 1-1091, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2021/1832/oj). 
10  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1988  of  11 November  2020  laying  down  rules  for  the 
application of Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 and (EU) No 510/2014 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  as  regards  the  administration  of  import  tariff  quotas  in  accordance  with  the  first  come,  first  served 
principle (OJ L 422, 14.12.2020, p. 4-136, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2020/1988/oj). 
11  Regulation  (EC)  No 1165/2008  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  19 November  2008 
concerning livestock and meat statistics and repealing Council Directives 93/23/EEC, 93/24/EEC and 93/25/EEC 
(Text with EEA relevance). (OJ L 321, 1.12.2008, p. 1–13, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2008/1165/oj). 

6 

 
 
 
4  Views of Member States and stakeholders 

4.1  Respondents’ assessment on carcass classification 

Five Member States confirmed that they apply the EU classification scale for lamb carcasses, 
with four of them using it also for adult sheep (i.e., sheep older than 12 months of age). Only 
two  Member  States  make  it  compulsory  for  all  operators,  whereas  in  the  other  two,  sheep 
classification is performed by only a small number of slaughterhouses on a voluntary basis. 
Croatia was the only Member State that confirmed that it was applying a mandatory carcass 
classification for goats, both for young and adult animals. 

Despite  most  of  the  respondents  recognising  the  value  of  the  carcass  classification  for 
improving  market  transparency,  adding  market  value  to  products,  and  improving  supplier 
response to  market  demands, the extra costs of  classification were mentioned as one of the 
main difficulties for making its use compulsory. Only four Member States replied favourably 
on  introducing  a  mandatory  classification  for  sheep  at  Union  level.  Furthermore,  the  great 
majority of Member States confirmed the absence of any request from domestic operators to 
modify the current voluntary basis of the Union scale. Fragmentation and/or the small size of 
their  domestic  markets  were  signalled  by  respondents  as  severe  obstacles  to  imposing 
compulsory application. 

In addition, only four Member States wished for the introduction of specific legislation on goat 
carcass classification. Many respondents also indicated that introducing classification to goat 
carcasses would not create added value, given that production is so marginal, and it represents 
in most cases a subproduct of dairy production. They concluded that any benefit of imposing 
any sort of carcass grading would be disproportionate compared to the additional costs for its 
implementation. 

For market information, most of the respondents confirmed that carcass classification plays a 
minor role when purchasing sheep/goat meat. Only four Member State respondents and one 
stakeholder respondent expressed any interest to extend price reporting to other sheep carcass 
categories.  Likewise,  only  two  Member  State  respondents  and  one  stakeholder  respondent 
wanted  price  reporting  for  goat  carcasses.  Replies  confirmed  that,  in  most  EU  markets,  the 
purchase of sheep and goat produce is agreed either based on flat rate payments, or per head, 
or per kg of live or carcass weight, or even on animal size. 

Additionally,  respondents  indicated  the  relative  importance  of  sheep  traded  in  Bulgaria, 
Estonia, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Romania, and Sweden. However, respondents signalled that, 
even  when  trading  live  animals  between  Member  States,  purchases  based  on  carcass 
classification are not significant. 

4.2  Respondents’ assessment on sales designations 

To avoid any increase in financial and administrative burden on operators and authorities, the 
great majority of respondents did not show interest in imposing more new legislation at EU 
level on sales designation. Only five and two Member States, respectively for sheep and goats, 
supported having more specific legislation on sales designations at EU level. 

7 

 
 
Only  one  Member  State  reported  a  request  from  its  domestic  stakeholders  to  have  specific 
legislation  at  EU  level  on  sales  designation  for  sheep,  whereas  also  one  respondent  from 
stakeholders supported this position. In the survey, only one Member State stressed the need 
to  distinguish  more  lamb  categories,  and  one  stakeholder  respondent  signalled  insufficient 
market information for goatmeat. 

4.3  Respondents’ additional comments 

From the answers of respondents, it emerges that the marketing and cutting of sheepmeat and 
goatmeat are mostly made following buyer specifications and entail lower processing than in 
other species meats. Some respondents recognised the importance in their Member States of 
small slaughterhouses and on farm slaughtering when supplying the processing industry with 
sheepmeat and goatmeat. At retail level, the meat is mainly sold in line with customer demands 
or in pre-packaged bundles. 

In  addition,  respondents  signalled  the  existence  of  various  differentiated  quality  marks  for 
sheepmeat  in  Belgium,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Ireland,  Greece,  Spain,  Croatia,  Italy,  Portugal, 
Slovenia, and Slovakia, and for goatmeat in Greece, Spain, Croatia, Portugal, and Slovenia. 
However, their market shares tend to be rather small when compared with the total domestic 
throughput. 

In general, estimation of the market share for the different commodities was not available in 
most of the questionnaires. 

5  Conclusions 

Participation from stakeholders in the survey was very low, in line with the thinking that seeing 
more legislation on carcass classification and sales designation is not a priority for the sector. 
Moreover,  there  was  little  interest  among  Member  States  or  stakeholders  in  introducing  a 
mandatory  sheep  carcass  classification,  nor  to  introduce  a  carcass  classification  system  for 
goats  or  to  further  legislate  on  sheepmeat  and  goatmeat  products.  Similarly,  the  European 
Parliament's 2018 Resolution on the current situation and future prospects for the sheep and 
goat sectors in the EU12 did not call for any specific legislation on either carcass classification 
or sales designation. 

Sheep carcass classification should therefore remain a voluntary tool at Union level to be used 
where it has benefits that provide real added value to justify any increase in costs and burden. 
The evaluation confirmed the lack of valid reasons for introducing a mandatory classification 
of sheep carcasses at Union level. There have not been significant developments in extending 
the  use  of  the  classification  scale  among  key  Union  producers.  Therefore,  the  costs  and 
administrative  burden  to  render  obligatory  the  classification  would  not  be  justified. 
Slaughterhouses  would  be  required  to  organise  and  perform  carcass  classification,  to  have 
trained dedicated staff, and to record and report results and prices. A competent authority would 
have to carry out on-the-spot inspections in line with Union rules, with consequent needs for 
additional resources.  

12 Report-A8-0064/2018. 

8 

 
 
 
Carcass classification can be a tool for the sheep supply chains in improving efficiency, price 
transparency  and  better  marketing.  However,  while  mandatory  sheep  carcass  classification 
might facilitate the transmission of information through the supply chain and could in principle 
lead to fairer and more economically efficient transactions, many operators continue not to see 
major benefits, and most suppliers trading sheep do not see a need for classifying carcasses. 

There is no need to extend the Union scale for carcass classification to goats, due to the very 
limited nature of this meat production in many Member States, and the specific characteristics 
of carcasses and meat cuts. 

On  sales  designation,  no  systematic  difficulties,  or  problems  in  implementing  current 
legislation on sheepmeat and goatmeat marketing were reported in the questionnaires, and the 
survey  showed  that  most  operators  and  competent  authorities  are  averse  to  imposing  more 
legislative  obligations  on  this  issue.  Rather,  they  favoured  a  simplified  approach  based  on 
subsidiarity and reduced administrative burden. In addition, whereas sheepmeat and goatmeat 
have different commercial classifications, which depend on the age of the animal when it is 
slaughtered, the wide diversity of production systems and autochthonous breeds makes these 
sectors  very  heterogeneous,  and  consumer  preferences  are  tied  to  cultural  background. 
Therefore, the various dimensions that constitute meat quality could be subject to tension or 
conflict if the legislators were to introduce a specific sales designation. 

The overall conclusion is that no new legislative proposals are needed on sales designations or 
carcass classification in the sheepmeat and goatmeat sector. 

9