PURPOSE : to establish a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products.
COMMUNITY MEASURE : Regulation 1760/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and repealing Council Regulation 820/97/EC. .
CONTENT : The Council unanimously approved all the Parliament's second reading amendments to the draft Regulation establishing a system for the identification of bovine animals and the labelling of beef products. The Regulation will apply to beef from animals slaughtered on or after 1 September 2000. It introduces a transparent system of compulsory labelling in two stages. In the first stage, which applies as soon as the Regulation is implemented, the consumer will be provided with:
- a reference number ensuring the link between the meat and the animals or animal;
- the approval numbers of the slaughterhouse and cutting hall;
- the Member State(s) or third country in which slaughter or cutting up took place.
As from 1 January 2002, the beginning of the second stage, the label will have to mention the Member State or third country of the animal's birth and all the Member States or third countries in which it was fattened. The European Parliament's second reading sought to:
- delete the compulsory indication of the category of animal or animals;
- strengthen the provisions on minced beef, so as to ensure that the label indicates the country of origin when this is not country in which the meat is prepared.
ENTRY INTO FORCE : 14/08/2000.
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