European rules on the tagging of bovine animals and on voluntary labelling of beef products are set to change in the near future. In 2012 the European Commission proposed various amendments to Regulation 1760/2000 which, in the wake of the BSE crisis, established a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and laid down rules on labelling of beef and beef products. The European Parliament has also made its own proposals for the amendment of Regulation 1760/2000.
Electronic Identification
The primary aim of the Commission proposal is to provide legal clarity to farmers and Member States which opt for electronic identification (EID) of bovine animals. EID involves the use of transponders that incorporate radio frequency to identify individual animals. EID transponders can be in the form of electronic eartags, transponders inserted into animals' stomachs or injected into animals' bodies. Since 2010, EID has been obligatory for sheep and goats.
The Commission has highlighted the benefits to farmers and the meat sector of greater use of EID. While the current traceability system based on conventional, plastic eartags is regarded as broadly effective, it does have certain weaknesses. These include the risk of error in reading eartags and delays in updating national herd databases due to the unavoidable time-lags in reporting animal movements. The current paperbased system of on-farm registers and animal passports was also singled out by an EU expert group as a significant administrative burden on farm businesses. In addition, special penalties exist under EU and Irish law for breaches of the requirements relating to bovine identification. Marts, assembly centres and slaughterhouses would also benefit from the logistical efficiencies offered by EID.
Unless Member States make EID compulsory within their territory, the Commission proposal would see EID introduced on an optional and incremental basis. Individual farmers would be entitled to adopt EID transponders if they feel it would have positive benefits for farm management. However, where EID is introduced, all animals would still be required to have one conventional plastic eartag.
Voluntary Beef Labelling
Of all foodstuffs, beef has one of the most complex and stringent set of laws relating to labelling. Regulation 1760/2000 contains certain compulsory rules in relation to beef labelling, such as information in relation to the countries of birth, fattening and slaughter of an animal. These will remain unchanged by the amendments proposed by the Commission. Regulation 1760/2000 also lays down certain rules in relation to voluntary beef labelling, requiring that any additional indications on beef labels be submitted to national competent authorities for approval prior to their use on the market. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is currently responsible for all such approvals in Ireland. The need for approval applies, for example, where operators wish to use indications relating to the breed of cattle or the age of slaughter. Before any such approval is granted, competent authorities currently need to be given assurances as to the reliability of any extra information provided on a label.
The Commission now proposes to abolish these rules on voluntary beef labelling. The system has been inconsistently applied across the EU Member States and it is now perceived as an excessive and unnecessary administrative burden. If rules on voluntary beef labelling are abolished, any voluntary indications on beef labels will still be subject to the general requirements of Directive 2000/13 on the labelling of foodstuffs (to be replaced by Regulation 1169/2011 from 31 December 2014), in particular the prohibition on misleading consumer information. The Commission's impact assessment has noted that allowing greater flexibility in relation to voluntary beef labelling should encourage greater innovation in quality beef labels and schemes.
Conclusion
In September 2012 the European Parliament voted on the Commission's proposals to amend Regulation 1760/2000. While there was broad agreement with the approach on introducing EID, reluctance was expressed in relation to the abolition of rules on voluntary beef labelling. The parliament has proposed that the 'truthfulness' of any voluntary beef labelling be verified by competent authorities. The parliament also wants to include new labelling requirements for meat from cloned bovine animals and the progeny of clones.
Discussions are currently on-going in the Council of Ministers on the Commission's proposals with a view to reaching common agreement with the European Parliament over the coming months.
This article contains a general summary of developments and is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.
