Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products

• Published date: 07 May 1997
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 117, 7 May 1997

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Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products

Official Journal L 117 , 07/05/1997 P. 0001 - 0008

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),

Whereas the market in beef and beef products has been destabilized by the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis; whereas it is necessary to re-establish stability in this market; whereas such re-establishment of stability can most effectively be achieved by improving the transparency of the conditions for the production and marketing of the products concerned particularly as regards traceability;

Whereas to this end it is essential to establish, on the one hand, a more 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;

Whereas, 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;

Whereas, as a result, consumer confidence in the quality of beef and beef products will be encouraged;

Whereas 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 (4) 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 organization 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;

Whereas Article 14 of Council Directive 91/496/EEC of 15 July 1991 laying down the principles governing the organization of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries and amending Directives 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC and 90/675/EEC (5) 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;

Whereas the management of certain Community aid schemes in the field of agriculture requires the individual identification of certain types of livestock; whereas the identification and registration systems must, therefore, be suitable for the application and control of such measures;

Whereas it is necessary to ensure the rapid and efficient exchange of information between Member States for the correct application of this Regulation; whereas 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 cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs or agriculture matters (6) and by Council Directive 89/608/EEC of 21 November 1989 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of legislation on veterinary and zootechnical matters (7);

Whereas 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 (8); whereas experience has shown that the implementation of that Directive for bovine animals has not been entirely satisfactory and needs further improvement; whereas it is therefore necessary to adopt a specific regulation for bovine animals in order to reinforce the provisions of the Directive;

Whereas, 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; whereas feasible time limits for its implementation must be laid down;

Whereas 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 computerized 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 (9), which clarifies the health requirements concerning this data base;

Whereas 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;

Whereas, 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; whereas the characteristics of the eartag and of the passport must be determined on a Community basis; whereas in principle a passport must be issued for each animal to which an eartag has been allocated;

Whereas animals imported from third countries pursuant to Directive 91/496/EEC must be subject to the same identification requirements;

Whereas every animal must keep its eartag throughout its life;

Whereas 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;

Whereas keepers of animals, with the exception of transporters, must maintain an up-to-date register of the animals on their holdings; whereas the characteristics of the register must be determined on a Community basis; whereas the competent authority must have access to these registers on request;

Whereas Member States may spread the costs arising from the application of these measures over the entire beef sector;

Whereas the authority or authorities responsible for the application of each Title in this Regulation should be designated;

Whereas, 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 (EEC) No 805/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common organization of the market in beef and veal (10);

Whereas before 1 January 2000 the labelling system shall be optional for operators and organizations marketing beef in the sense that operators and organizations wishing to label their beef shall do so in accordance with this Regulation; whereas a compulsory beef-labelling system must be introduced which is obligatory in all Member States from 1 January 2000; whereas this compulsory system shall not exclude the possibility for a Member State to decide to apply the system merely on an optional basis to beef sold in that same Member State; whereas the labelling system provided for in this Regulation shall apply until 31 December 1999; whereas, before 1 January 2000, Member States will be able to choose to make the system compulsory under certain circumstances;

Whereas the provisions of this Regulation should not undermine existing Community legislation in the fields of labelling and control of foodstuffs, protection of geographical indications and designations of origin, certificates of specific character for agricultural products and foodstuffs measures to promote and market quality beef and veal, and rules governing health problems affecting intra-Community trade in meat and meat products;

Whereas an efficient labelling system...