11 Labelling of beef and beef products
| (25607)
8963/04
COM(04) 316
| Commission Report on the implementation of Title II of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products
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| Legal base | — |
| Department | Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 8 July 2004
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 42-xxiii (2003-04), para 2 (16 June 2004)
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
11.1 Largely as a result of the BSE crisis, the Council adopted
Regulation (EC) No. 820/97,[31]
which introduced a voluntary beef labelling scheme. That Regulation
originally provided for the introduction of a compulsory system
for the origin labelling of beef in all Member States from 1 January
2000, but, following a further proposal[32]
from the Commission, the Regulation eventually adopted (No. 1760/2000)[33]
made it compulsory for the complete origin of all cattle to be
indicated as from 1 January 2002, leaving other types of information
to be provided on a voluntary basis under national schemes. The
later Regulation also required the Commission to evaluate the
way in which Member States have applied the new compulsory labelling
provisions, and to examine the possibility of extending the scope
of the Regulation.
11.2 It has since sought to do this in the current
document, which concludes that the system now in place represents
a major advance in consumer information and transparency, made
possible by the individual cattle identification system which
has been compulsory in all Member States since 1997. However,
it also notes that origin tracing of beef is more complicated
than that for other agricultural products, due to the movements
of animals throughout their life and the different stages of processing
which the meat undergoes, and it identified a number of shortcomings
in the implementation of the Regulation, leading it to examine
the feasibility of extending the scope of origin labelling and
of simplifying the current labelling provisions. In particular,
it was suggested that the Commission should itself adopt, under
Management Committee procedure, measures to allow beef from more
than one cutting plant to be combined at the secondary processing
stage,[34] as well as
simplified measures for the labelling of trimmings and beef products
sold unwrapped; and that consideration should be given to streamlining
the mutual recognition of approvals granted by national authorities
under the voluntary scheme.
11.3 As we noted in our Report of 16 June 2004, were
that to be the case, these proposals would be subject to parliamentary
scrutiny only if they failed to secure the necessary majority
in the Management Committee, and hence had to be referred to the
Council under the relevant comitology procedures. Consequently,
we said that we did not feel able to clear the current document
without at least some indication from the Government as to how
the UK would view these changes, and what their implications might
be. We added that it would also be helpful if it could at the
same time let us know how stakeholders had reacted to the consultation
exercise which we were told was being carried out.
Minister's letter of 8 July 2004
11.4 We have now received a letter of 8 July 2004
from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Farming, Foods
and Sustainable Energy) at the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty), which says that the UK's exact
line on each of these three areas will depend on the nature of
any Commission proposals, and would be consistent with its overarching
policies in relation to sound regulatory provisions. Subject
to those caveats, the Minister says that secondary plants would
welcome the combining of meat from more than one cutting plant,
as it would relax the current requirements placed upon them as
regards batch labelling. In general, therefore, the UK would
favour some relaxation in this area, its main concern being to
ensure that adequate traceability remained in place. He says
that the simplification of measures for labelling trimmings and
beef products sold unwrapped is not an issue of great significance
to the UK industry, but that, in each of these cases, the UK would
welcome the introduction of some simplified rules, subject again
to there being no loss of information to consumers. It would
also welcome moves to standardise approvals under the voluntary
labelling rules, which the Minister says would facilitate trade
within the Community and provide improved information to consumers.
11.5 More generally, the Minister says that the closing
date for his Department's consultation exercise is not until 6
August, and that consequently a number of replies are still awaited.
In the meantime, he says that there are only two substantive
areas on which the Government has already received representations
— the continuing use by processors of beef from more than
one Member State, and the option of using a Community (rather
than Member State) designation. He also points out that the status
of this document is unlike that of a proposal for new Council
legislation, and that the Irish Presidency was very clear that
it would not be seeking the adoption of clear Council conclusions.
Consequently, the discussions so far have been concerned more
with noting the Commission's conclusions than with a root and
branch overhaul of the present system, though the Government intends
to consult at the appropriate time on the detail of any Commission
proposals to make technical changes through the management committee
procedure.
Conclusion
11.6 We are grateful to the Minister for this
further information on the points raised in our earlier Report,
and for his indication of the way in which these issues are being
handled within the Council. We accept that the document before
us essentially provides a (generally encouraging) assessment of
the operation of these arrangements so far, and that, in so far
as it may lead to any technical changes being made, these are
likely to be the subject of further proposals, in some cases for
legislation by the Commission rather than the Council. We also
accept that, until the details of any such proposals are available,
the Government can do no more than provide a general indication
of the UK's likely reaction. We are therefore now content to
clear the present document.
31 OJ No. L 117, 7.5.97, p.1. Back
32
(20627) 12030/99; see HC 23-viii (1999-2000), para 1 (9 February
2000), HC 23-xv (1999-2000), para 6 (19 April 2000) and HC 23-xvi
(1999-2000), para 4 (10 May 2000). Back
33
OJ No. L 204, 11.8.00, p.1. Back
34
Where beef is made up into batches for wholesalers and retailers. Back
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