Beef and veal: marketing of the meat of animals aged twelve months or less

 The committee adopted the report by Bernadette BOURZAI (PES, FR) broadly approving the proposed regulation under the consultation procedure, subject to a few amendments:

- MEPs specified that the use of the term "meat" in the regulation meant meat intended for human consumption. The provisions of the regulation should also apply to prepared, processed or cooked products which contain meat;

- the sales description listed in Annex II should appear in all commercial documents;

- the regulation should only apply "where the meat of bovine animals aged more than eight months is being marketed as other than "beef" (or the equivalent term for adult beef in other Community languages)";

- the choice of the letters X and Y as category identification letters could lead to confusion with the sex of the animals, and the letters V and Z should therefore be used instead;

- lastly, the committee introduced a new article providing for Member States to impose "effective, proportionate and dissuasive" penalties in the event of failure to comply with the rules laid down.