Beef: identification and registration of animals and labelling of beef

1999/0204(COD)
In adopting the report by Mr. Mihail PAPAYANNAKIS (GUE/NGL, Greek), the European Parliament approves the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation 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. This proposal was subject to amendments which are as follow: - the compulsory beef labelling system shall be introduced and made obligatory in all Member Sates from 01/09/2000 onwards; - Council Regulation 2772/1999/EC of the 21 December 1999 providing for the general rules for a compulsory beef labelling system specifies that such general rules are to be applicable only on a provisional basis, for a maximum period of 8 months, i.e. from 01/01/2000 to 31/08/2000; - should eartags become accidently detached, they should be replaced within a reasonable time; - research is currently focusing on the identification of bovine animals using an 'immunological eartag'. These developments should be welcomed and the work being carried out supported; - the distribution of eartags shall be recorded in the passport; - a compulsory beef labelling system shall be introduced which is obligatory in all Member States from the date of entry into force of this Regulation. The places of birth, rearing and slaughter of the animal or animals from which the beef was derived shall be clearly indicated on the label; - in the case of products that are not packaged, the appropriate information in written and visible form shall be provided for the consumer at the point of sale; - as from 01/09/2001, operators and organisations shall also indicate on the labels the Member State, or third country, of birth, where fattening took place and where slaughter took place; - for animals born before the entry into force of the compulsory registration on 01/01/1998, whose place of birth cannot be clearly identified according to this Regulation, the following additional indication must appear on the label: "Birth not registered (before 1.1.98)"; - beef which does not comply with this Regulation shall be labelled "This beef does not comply with EU traceability regualtions"; - the approval of a specification shall imply a guarantee on the part of the competent authority, obtained on the basis of a detailed study of the information laid down in paragraph 1, the correct and reliable functioning of the planned labelling system and, in particular, its control system; - any specification providing for labels which contain misleading or insufficiently clear information shall also be rejected; - where beef is produced and/or sold in two or more Member States, the competent authorities of the Member States concenred shall consider and approve the specifications submitted to them insofar as the information they contain relates to operations which take place on their respective territories. In such cases, each Member State shall be required to recognise the approvals granted by any of theother Member States concerned; - within a period of one year from the date of the entry into force of this Regulation, the European Parliament and the Council shall decide, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 152 of the Treaty, to extend the scope of this Regulation to include processed products containing beef and beef-based products; - every six months from the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament indicating the Member States' compliance status.�