Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (repealed)Show full title

ANNEX V COMMUNITY SCALES FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF CARCASSES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 42

A. Community scale for the classification of carcasses of adult bovine animals

I. Definitions

The following definitions shall apply:

1.

’carcass’: the whole body of a slaughtered animal as presented after bleeding, evisceration and skinning;

2.

’half-carcass’: the product obtained by separating the carcass referred to in point (1) symmetrically through the middle of each cervical, dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebra and through the middle of the sternum and the ischiopubic symphysis.

II. Categories

The carcasses shall be divided into the following categories:

A

:

carcasses of uncastrated young male animals of less than two years of age;

B

:

carcasses of other uncastrated male animals;

C

:

carcasses of castrated male animals;

D

:

carcasses of female animals that have calved;

E

:

carcasses of other female animals.

III. Classification

The carcasses shall be classified by successive assessment of:

1.

Conformation, defined as follows:

Development of carcass profiles, in particular the essential parts (round, back, shoulder)

Conformation class	Description
S Superior	All profiles extremely convex; exceptional muscle development (double muscled carcass type)
E Excellent	All profiles convex to super-convex; exceptional muscle development
U Very good	Profiles on the whole convex, very good muscle development
R Good	Profiles on the whole straight; good muscle development
O Fair	Profiles straight to concave; average muscle development
P Poor	All profiles concave to very concave; poor muscle development

2.

Fat cover, defined as follows:

Amount of fat on the outside of the carcass and in the thoracic cavity

Class of fat cover	Description
1 low	None up to low fat cover
2 slight	Slight fat cover, flesh visible almost everywhere
3 average	Flesh with the exception of the round and shoulder, almost everywhere covered with fat, slight deposits of fat in the thoracic cavity
4 high	Flesh covered with fat, but on the round and shoulder still partly visible, some distinctive fat deposits in the thoracic cavity
5 very high	Entire carcass covered with fat; heavy deposits in the thoracic cavity

Member States shall be authorised to subdivide each of the classes provided for in points 1. and 2. into a maximum of three subclasses.

IV. Presentation

Carcasses and half-carcasses shall be presented:

1.

without the head and without the feet; the head shall be separated from the carcass at the atloido-occipital joint and the feet shall be severed at the carpametacarpal or tarsometatarsal joints,

2.

without the organs contained in the thoracic and abdominal cavities with or without the kidneys, the kidney fat and the pelvic fat,

3.

without the sexual organs and the attached muscles and without the udder or the mammary fat.

For the purpose of establishing market prices, a different presentation may be set out in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 195(2).

V. Classification and identification

Slaughterhouses approved under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin(1) shall take measures to ensure that all carcasses or half-carcasses from adult bovine animals slaughtered in such slaughterhouses and bearing a health mark provided for Article 5(2) in conjunction with Chapter III of Section I of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption(2) are classified and identified in accordance with the Community scale.

Before identification by marking, Member States may grant authorisation to have the external fat removed from the carcasses or half-carcasses if this is justified by the fat cover.

B. Community scale for the classification of pig carcasses

I. Definition

’carcass’ shall mean the body of a slaughtered pig, bled and eviscerated, whole or divided down the mid-line.

II. Classification

Carcasses shall be divided into classes according to their estimated lean-meat content and classified accordingly:

a Member States may introduce, for pigs slaughtered in their territory, a separate class of 60 % or more of lean meat designated with the letter S.
Classes	Lean meat as percentage of carcass weight
S	60 or morea
E	55 or more
U	50 or more but less than 55
R	45 or more but less than 50
O	40 or more but less than 45
P	less than 40

III. Presentation

Carcasses shall be presented without tongue, bristles, hooves, genital organs, flare fat, kidneys and diaphragm.

With regard to pigs slaughtered in their territory, the Member States may be authorised to provide for a different presentation of pig carcasses if one of the following conditions is fulfilled:

1.

if normal commercial practice in their territory differs from the standard presentation defined in the first subparagraph,

2.

if technical requirements warrant it,

3.

if carcasses are dehided in a uniform manner.

IV. Lean-meat content

1. The lean-meat content shall be assessed by means grading methods authorised by the Commission. Only statistically proven assessment methods based on the physical measurement of one or more anatomical parts of the pig carcass may be authorised. Authorisation of grading methods shall be subject to compliance with a maximum tolerance for statistical error in assessment.

2. However, the commercial value of the carcasses shall not be determined solely by their estimated lean-meat content.

V. Identification of carcasses

Unless otherwise provided for by the Commission, classified carcasses shall be identified by marking in accordance with the Community scale.

C. Community scale for the classification of sheep carcasses

I. Definition

As regards the terms ’carcass’ and ’half-carcass’ the definitions laid down in point A.I shall apply.

II. Categories

The carcasses shall be divided into the following categories:

A

carcasses of sheep under 12 months old,

B

carcasses of other sheep.

III. Classification

1. The carcasses shall be classified by way of application of the provisions in point A.III. mutatis mutandis. However, the term ’round’ in point A.III.1 and in rows 3 and 4 of the table under point A.III.2. shall be replaced by the term ’hindquarter’.

2. By way of derogation from point 1, for lambs of less than 13 kg carcass weight, Member States may be authorised by the Commission, without the assistance of the Committee referred to in Article 195(1), to use the following criteria for classification:

(a)

carcass weight,

(b)

colour of meat,

(c)

fat cover.

IV. Presentation

Carcasses and half-carcasses shall be presented without the head (severed at the atlantooccipital joint), the feet (severed at the carpometacarpal or tarso-metatarsal joints), the tail (severed between the sixth and seventh caudal vertebrae), the udder, the genitalia, the liver and the pluck. Kidneys and kidney fat are included in the carcass.

However, Member States shall be authorised to permit different presentations when the reference presentation is not used. In such instances, the adjustments necessary to progress from those presentations to the reference presentation shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 195(2).

V. Identification of carcasses

Classified carcasses and half-carcasses shall be identified by marking in accordance with the Community scale.

(1)

OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 55. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1791/2006 (OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 1).

(2)

OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 206. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1791/2006.