Commission Regulation (EC) No 2406/97 of 3 December 1997 amending Regulation (EC) No 1141/97 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 as regards the labelling of beef and beef products

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2406/97 of 3 December 1997 amending Regulation (EC) No 1141/97 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 as regards the labelling of beef and beef products
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (1), and in particular Article 18 thereof,
Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 1141/97 (2) lays down detailed rules as regards the labelling of beef and beef products;
Whereas Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 820/97 provides for certain provisions where the production of beef takes place, in full or in part, in a third country; whereas it is appropriate to provide for detailed implementing rules for the approval procedure for imports of beef from third countries;
Whereas in order to ensure that the labelling arrangements relating to imported beef are of equivalent reliability to those applicable to Community beef, the Commission shall examine notifications received from third countries; whereas complete notifications shall be transmitted to the Member States when the Commission reaches the conclusion that the procedures and/or criteria applied in the third country concerned are equivalent to the standards set out in Regulation (EC) No 820/97;
Whereas in order to guarantee the reliability of the labelling system in third countries the Commission may request additional information and should take the necessary measures in the light of the information received as a result of these requests;
Whereas the Commission may carry out checks in third countries; whereas in order to be able to carry out checks in a third country the Commission would need the prior consent of the third country concerned; whereas if such consent is not forthcoming, the Commission should take the necessary measures;
Whereas it is opportune to prolong the transitional period taking account of several practical problems that have arisen in Member States as well as in third countries;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Beef and Veal,