Considerations on COM(1999)487-1 - Proposals for 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 - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(1999)487-1 - Proposals for European Parliament and Council Regulation establishing a system for the identification and registration of ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(1999)487  |
| date | July 17, 2000 |
(2) It is appropriate to include those general rules into Regulation (EC) No 820/97. For reasons of clarity that Regulation should be repealed and replaced by a new Regulation.
(3) As a consequence of the instability in the market in beef and beef products caused by the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis, the improvement in the transparency of the conditions for the production and marketing of the products concerned, particularly as regards traceability, has exerted a positive influence on consumption of beef. To maintain and strengthen this consumer confidence in beef, it is necessary to develop the framework in which the information is made available to consumers on the label.
(4) To this end it is essential to establish, on the one hand, an efficient system for the identification and registration of bovine animals at the production stage and, on the other hand, a specific Community labelling system in the beef sector based on objective criteria at the marketing stage.
(5) By means of the guarantees provided for such an improvement, certain public interest requirements will also be attained, in particular the protection of human and animal health. Therefore, the appropriate legal basis for this Regulation is Article 152 of the Treaty.
(6) As a result, consumer confidence in the quality of beef and beef products will be encouraged.
(7) Article 3(1)(c) of Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market( ) states that animals for intra-Community trade must be identified in accordance with the requirements of Community rules and be registered in such a way that the original or transit holding, centre or organisation can be traced, and that before 1 January 1993 these identification and registration systems are to be extended to the movements of animals within the territory of each Member State.
(8) Article 14 of Council Directive 91/496/EEC of 15 July 1991 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries and amending Directives 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC and 90/675/EEC( ) states that the identification and registration as provided for in Article 3(1)(c) of Directive 90/425/EEC of such animals must, except in the case of animals for slaughter and registered equidae, be carried out after the said checks have been made.
(9) The management of certain Community aid schemes in the field of agriculture requires the individual identification of certain types of livestock. The identification and registration systems must, therefore, be suitable for the application and control of such measures.
(10) It is necessary to ensure the rapid and efficient exchange of information between Member States for the correct application of this Regulation. Community provisions have been established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 of 19 May 1981 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and the co-operation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs or agriculture matters( ) and by Council Directive 89/608/EEC of 21 November 1989 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and co-operation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of legislation on veterinary and zootechnical matters( ).
(11) The current rules concerning the identification and the registration of bovine animals have been laid down in Council Directive 92/102/EEC of 27 November 1992 on the identification and registration of animals ( ) and Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97. Experience has shown that the implementation of that Directive for bovine animals has not been entirely satisfactory and needs further improvement. It is therefore necessary to adopt a specific regulation for bovine animals in order to reinforce the provisions of the Directive.
(12) For the introduction of an improved identification system to be accepted, it is essential not to impose excessive demands on the producer in terms of administrative formalities. Feasible time limits for its implementation must be laid down.
(13) For the purpose of rapid and accurate tracing of animals for reasons relating to the control of Community aid schemes, each Member State must create a computerised data base which will record the identity of the animal, all holdings on its territory and the movements of the animals, in accordance with the provisions of Council Directive 97/12/EC of 17 March 1997 amending and updating Directive 64/432/EEC on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine ( ), which clarifies the health requirements concerning this data base.
(14) Steps must be taken to ensure that the technical conditions exist to guarantee the best communication possible by the producer with the data base and a comprehensive use of data bases.
(15) In order to permit movements of bovine animals to be traced, animals must be identified by an eartag applied in each ear and in principle accompanied by a passport throughout any movement. The characteristics of the eartag and of the passport must be determined on a Community basis. In principle a passport must be issued for each animal to which an eartag has been allocated.
(16) Animals imported from third countries pursuant to Directive 91/496/EEC must be subject to the same identification requirements.
(17) Every animal must keep its eartag throughout its life.
(18) The Commission is examining on the basis of work performed by the Joint Research Centre the feasibility of using electronic means for the identification of animals.
(19) Keepers of animals, with the exception of transporters, must maintain an up-to-date register of the animals on their holdings. The characteristics of the register must be determined on a Community basis. The competent authority must have access to these registers on request.
(20) Member States may spread the costs arising from the application of these measures over the entire beef sector.
(21) The authority or authorities responsible for the application of each Title in this Regulation should be designated.
(22) In the context of the labelling system set up by this Regulation, beef shall be taken to mean certain products referred to in Article 1(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/99 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal ( ).
(23) A compulsory beef labelling system shall be introduced which is obligatory in all Member States. Under this compulsory system, operators and organisations marketing beef shall indicate on the label information about certain characteristics of the beef and the point of slaughter of the animal or animals from which that beef was derived.
(24) The compulsory beef labelling system shall be reinforced from 1 January 2003. Under this compulsory system, operators and organisations marketing beef shall, in addition, indicate on the label information concerning origin, in particular where the animal or animals from which the beef was derived were born, reared and slaughtered.
(25) The date of 1 January 2003 is the earliest date by which it is feasible to introduce the compulsory labelling of origin. The principal reason for not introducing compulsory labelling of origin before 1 January 2003 is that full information on movements made by bovine animals in the Community is only required for animals born after 1 January 1998.
(26) In terms of the public interest requirement, the compulsory beef labelling system shall also apply to beef imported into the Community. However, provision must be made for the fact that not all the information required for the indication of origin on the label may be available to a third country operator or organisation. It is therefore necessary to state the minimum information that shall be indicated on the label by third countries.
(27) For operators or organisations producing and marketing minced beef, beef trimmings or cut beef and operators or organisations exporting beef from third countries to the Community, who may not be in a position to provide all the information required under the compulsory beef labelling system, exceptions ensuring a certain minimum number of indications must be provided.
(28) The objective of labelling is to give the maximum transparency in the marketing of beef. It is therefore appropriate that those operators and organisations that choose to market their beef under a label which ensures traceability to the individual animal, should be permitted to label beef with a specific logo.
(29) For all indications other than those falling under the compulsory beef labelling system, a Community framework for such beef labelling is also required. The diversity of descriptions of marketed beef in the Community means that the establishment of a voluntary beef labelling system is most appropriate. An efficient labelling system depends on the possibility of tracing back any labelled beef to the animal or animals of origin. The labelling arrangements of an operator or organisation shall be valid only once a specification has been submitted to the competent authority within a certain delay. In order to identify correctly the person responsible for the information on the label, operators and organisations shall be entitled to label beef only if the label contains their name or their identifying logo. In order to ensure that labelling specifications may be recognised across the Community, it is necessary to provide for the mutual exchange of information between Member States.
(30) Operators and organisations importing beef from third countries into the Community may also wish to label their products according to the voluntary beef labelling system. Provisions should thus be made for imported beef to be included in that system. These provisions must ensure that labelling arrangements relating to imported beef are of equivalent reliability to those set up for Community beef.
(31) The change from the arrangements in Title II of Regulation (EC) No 820/97 to those in this Regulation could give rise to difficulties that are not dealt with in this Regulation. In order to deal with that eventuality, provision should be made for the Commission to adopt the necessary transitional measures. The Commission should also be authorised to solve specific practical problems.
(32) With a view to guaranteeing the reliability of the arrangements provided for by this Regulation, it is necessary to oblige the Member States to carry out adequate and efficient control measures. These controls shall be without prejudice to any controls that the Commission may carry out by analogy with Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests ( ). The competent authorities of the Member States shall be authorised to withdraw their approval of any specification in the event of irregularities.
(33) Appropriate penalties should be laid down in the event of a breach of the provisions of this Regulation.