TITLE IILabelling of beef and beef products
Article 11
An operator or an organisation, as defined in Article 12, which:
is required, by virtue of Section I of this title, to label beef at all stages of marketing,
wishes, by virtue of Section II of this title, to label beef at the point of sale in such a way as to provide information, other than that laid down by Article 13, concerning certain characteristics or production conditions of the labelled meat or of the animal from which it derives,
shall do so in accordance with this title.
This title shall apply without prejudice to relevant Community legislation, in particular on beef.
F2Article 12
For the purposes of this Title, the following definitions apply:
- (1)
‘beef’ means all products falling within CN codes 0201, 0202, 0206 10 95 and 0206 29 91;
- (2)
‘labelling’ means the attachment of a label to an individual piece or pieces of meat or to their packaging material, or, in the case of non-pre-wrapped products, the supply of appropriate information in written and visible form to the consumer at the point of sale;
- (3)
‘organisation’ means a group of operators from the same or different parts of the beef trade;
- (4)
‘minced meat’ means any boned meat that has been minced into fragments and contains less than 1 % salt and that falls within CN codes 0201, 0202, 0206 10 95 and 0206 29 91;
- (5)
‘trimmings’ means small pieces of meat recognised as fit for human consumption produced exclusively during trimming operations during the boning of carcasses and/or the cutting up of meat;
- (6)
‘cut meat’ means meat which has been cut into small cubes, slices or other individual portions that do not require further cutting by an operator before being bought by the final consumer and that can be directly used by that consumer. This definition does not cover minced meat and trimmings.
SECTION ICompulsory Community beef labelling system
Article 13General rules
1
Operators and organisations marketing beef in the Community shall label it in accordance with this Article.
The compulsory labelling system shall ensure a link between, on the one hand, the identification of the carcass, quarter or pieces of meat and, on the other hand, the individual animal or, where this is sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information on the label to be checked, the group of animals concerned.
2
The label shall contain the following indications:
a
a reference number or reference code ensuring the link between the meat and the animal or animals. This number may be the identification number of the individual animal from which the beef was derived or the identification number relating to a group of animals;
b
the approval number of the slaughterhouse at which the animal or group of animals was slaughtered and the Member State or third country in which the slaughterhouse is established. The indication shall read: ‘Slaughtered in (name of the Member State or third country) (approval number)’;
c
the approval number of the cutting hall which performed the cutting operation on the carcass or group of carcases and the Member State or third country in which the hall is established. The indication shall read: ‘Cutting in: (name of the Member State or third country) (approval number)’.
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5
F2a
Operators and organisations shall also indicate on the labels:
- (i)
Member State or third country of birth;
- (ii)
all Member States or third countries where fattening took place;
- (iii)
Member State or third country where slaughter took place;
b
However, where the beef is derived from animals born, raised and slaughtered:
- (i)
in the same Member State, the indication may be given as ‘Origin: (name of Member State)’;
- (ii)
in the same third country, the indication may be given as ‘Origin: (name of third country)’.
F36
To avoid unnecessary repetition of the indication on the label of the beef of the Member States or third countries where rearing took place, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 22b pertaining to a simplified presentation for cases of very short stay of the animal in the Member State or third country of birth or of slaughter.
The Commission shall, by way of implementing acts, adopt rules concerning the maximum size and composition of the group of animals referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2(a), taking into account constraints as regards the homogeneity of the groups of animals where those cut meats and trimmings come from. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).
Article 14Derogations from the compulsory labelling system
By way of derogation from Article 13(2)(b) and (c) and from Article 13(5)(a)(i) and (ii), an operator or organisation preparing minced beef shall indicate on the label the words ‘prepared (name of the Member State or third country)’, depending on where the meat was prepared, and ‘origin’ where the State or States involved are not the State of preparation.
The obligation provided for in Article 13(5)(a)(iii) shall be applicable to such meat as from the date of application of this Regulation.
However, such operator or organisation may add to the label of the minced beef:
one or more of the indications provided for in Article 13, and/or
the date on which the meat was prepared.
F2To ensure conformity with the horizontal rules relating to the labelling in this Section, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 22b to lay down, on the basis of the experience regarding minced meat, rules equivalent to those in the first three paragraphs of this Article for beef trimmings or cut beef.
Article 15F2Compulsory labelling of beef from third countries
By way of derogation from Article 13, beef imported into the territory of the Union for which not all the information provided for in Article 13 is available, shall be labelled with the indication:
‘Origin: non-EU’ and ‘Slaughtered in (name of the third country)’.
SECTION IIF2Voluntary labelling
Article 15aF3General rules
Food information other than that specified in Articles 13, 14 and 15 which is added to labels voluntarily by operators or organisations marketing beef shall be objective, verifiable by the competent authorities and comprehensible for consumers.
That information shall comply with the horizontal legislation on labelling and in particular Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council17.
Where operators or organisations marketing beef do not respect the obligations referred to in the first and the second paragraphs, the competent authority shall apply appropriate penalties as laid down in Article 22.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 22b concerning definitions and requirements applicable to terms or categories of terms that may be put on the labels of pre-packed fresh and frozen beef and veal.
F1Article 16F1General rules
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F1Article 17Voluntary labelling system for beef from third countries
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F1Article 18Sanctions
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SECTION IIIGeneral provisions
F1Article 19F1Detailed rules
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F1Article 20Designation of competent authorities
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F1Article 21
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