EN
C 193/34
Official Journal of the European Union
12.5.2022
The initial provision has been supplemented to specify that it is referring to the suckling lamb.
Furthermore, a tandem provision on the slaughter lamb has been added.
The prohibition on using antibiotics has been maintained for suckling lambs.
Their use has, however, been authorised for slaughter lambs, depending on the pathologies encountered, solely on veterinary prescription and within the regulatory deadlines for using those products, while also requiring at least seven days between the end of all treatments and the slaughter, where the treatment does not require a withdrawal period of seven days.
These treatments are authorised for the slaughter lamb because it is an older animal and thus potentially more exposed to disorders requiring their use.
This amendment to the product specification does not affect the single document.
In the section
5.2.
Collection of lambs (formerly ‘Departure from the holding and transportation’)
The following paragraph has been deleted: ‘A lamb may be sold once it has attained a minimum live weight of 9 kg and a maximum live weight of 16 kg.
The animal may then be taken to the collection point.
Transportation is carried out under the conditions defined by the AFNOR standard NF V 00-051.
Vehicle occupancy standards must be complied with in order to avoid overcrowding and overloading.’
The information in the first part relates solely to the suckling lamb.
In the following section on slaughtering, the information on live weight has been deleted, but the information on carcass weight has been retained.
The other elements of the paragraph are already covered by general regulations and have therefore been deleted.
The following paragraph has been added: ‘While being reared and especially while being sorted with a view to their departure from the holding, the animals are handled with care so as to avoid, as far as possible, any source of stress.
The animals may not be grabbed by the wool.
Tranquilising substances may not be administered to animals prior to transportation.’
This paragraph sets out the conditions for handling animals during collection and transport operations.
The following provision has been deleted: ‘Upon reception at the collection point, a selection is made.
Animals not subject to the PGI (bearing a coloured mark on their back and identified as such on the delivery note) are separated from those that are.
The technician removes from the PGI batch any animals which are too weak and thin (where there is any doubt, a lumbar palpation is performed; if any vertebrae can be distinguished, the lamb is downgraded) or manifest any physical defects (lameness, etc.).
The lamb is felt around the ribs to check for the presence of muscle, and a visual assessment is made of its fat cover.
As a general rule, this operation is always performed by the same technician.
The technician’s experience and know-how enable him or her to make a rapid judgement as to whether the lamb could meet the requirements of the PGI.
The lambs able to be chosen for the PGI are then grouped into batches.
When the numbers collected diminish or consignments are larger, the lambs that have been grouped together at the collection point may be transported to an assembly centre, where they are sorted prior to being dispatched to the slaughterhouse.
’ and has been replaced by the following: ‘When the numbers collected are small, the lambs may initially be grouped together at a collection point.
This stage consists solely of unloading small batches of lambs at a specific location to establish a larger batch for dispatching to an assembly centre or directly to a slaughterhouse.
This amounts to a pooling of means of transport.
No feeding is authorised at the collection point.
In the event of transit via an assembly centre, the animals not subject to the PGI (bearing a coloured mark on their back and identified as such on the delivery note) are separated from those that are.
Animals which are too weak and thin and/or manifest any physical defects (lameness, etc.) are removed from the PGI batch.
The feeding, housing and hygiene conditions in the assembly centre are the same as those on the holding.
’