BOVINE ANIMALS (IDENTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION) AND BEEF LABELLING RULES

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 437.84

BOVINE ANIMALS (IDENTIFICATION AND

REGISTRATION) AND BEEF LABELLING

RULES

2nd September, 2005

LEGAL NOTICE 311 of 2005, as amended by Legal Notice 341 of 2020.

(1) The Title of these rules is the Bovine Animals

(Identification and Registration) and Beef Labelling Rules.

(2) The scope of these rules is to implement the provisions

found under European Union Parliament and Council Regulation

(EC) No 1760/2000 of the 17th July, 2000 laying down a system for

the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding

the labelling of beef and beef products.

TITLE I

For the purposes of these rules, the following definitions

shall apply

"animal" means a bovine animal within the meaning of Article

2(2)(b) and (c) of Directive 64/432/EEC;

"the competent authority" means the Veterinary Services;

"Director'' means the Director responsible for Veterinary Services,

or any officer nominated by him;

"holding" means any establishment, construction or, in the case

of an open-air farm, any place situated within the Malta, in which

animals covered by these rules are held, kept or handled;

"keeper" means any natural or legal person responsible for

animals, whether on a permanent or on a temporary basis, including

during transportation or at a market; and

for the purposes of Title II, the following definitions shall apply

"beef" means all products falling within CN codes 0201, 0202,

0206 10 95 and 0206 29 91;

"labelling" means the attachment of a label to an individual piece

or pieces of meat or to their packaging material, or in the case of

non-prewrapped products the supply of appropriate information in

written and visible form to the consumer at the point of sale;

"organisation" means a group of operators from the same or

different parts of the beef trade.

(1) The system for the identification and registration of

bovine animals shall comprise the following elements

(a) ear tags to identify animals individually;

(b) computerised databases;

(c) animal passports;

(d) individual registers kept on each holding.

(2) The Commission and the Veterinary Services shall have

access to all the information covered by these rules. The Member

States and the Commission shall take the measures necessary to

ensure access to these data for all parties concerned, including

consumer organisations having an interest which are recognised by

the Member State, provided that the data confidentiality and

protection prescribed by national law are ensured.

(1) All animals on a holding born after the 31st December,

1997 or intended for intra-Community trade, shall be identified by

an ear tag approved by the Veterinary Services, applied to each ear.

Both ear tags shall bear the same unique identification code, which

makes it possible to identify each animal individually together with

the holding on which it was born. Bovine animals intended for

cultural and sporting events, with the exception of fairs and

exhibitions, may be identified, instead of by an ear tag, by an

identification system offering equivalent guarantees and authorised

by the Commission.

(2) The ear tag shall be applied within a period of twenty days

as from the birth of the animal and in any case before the animal

leaves the holding on which it was born.

(3) Any animal imported from a third country which has passed

the checks laid down in European Union Council Directive 91/496/

EEC and which remains within Community territory shall be

identified on the holding of destination by an ear tag complying

with the requirements of these rules, within twenty days following

the aforesaid checks, and in any event before leaving the holding

Provided that it shall not be necessary to identify the animal

if the holding of destination is a slaughterhouse situated in the

Member State where such checks are carried out and the animal is

slaughtered within twenty days of undergoing the checks

Provided further that the original identification established

by the third country shall be recorded in the computerised database

provided for in rule 5 or, if this is not yet fully operational, in the

registers provided for in rule 3, together with the identification

code allocated to it by the Member State of destination.

(4) Any animal from another Member State shall retain its

original ear tag.

(5) No ear tag may be removed or replaced without the

permission of the Veterinary Services.

(6) The ear tags shall be allocated to the holding, distributed

and applied to the animals in a manner determined by the

Veterinary Services.

The Veterinary Services shall set up a computerised

database in accordance with Articles 14 and 18 of Directive 64/

432/EC where they shall store all data required pursuant to the said

Directive.

(1) The Veterinary Services shall for each animal which

has to be identified in accordance with rule 4, issue a passport

within fourteen days of the notification of its birth, or, in the case

of animals imported from third countries, within fourteen days of

the notification of its re-identification by the Member State

concerned in accordance with rule 4(3). The Veterinary Services

may issue a passport for animals from another Member State under

the same conditions. In such cases, the passport accompanying the

animal on its arrival shall be surrendered to the Veterinary

Services, which shall return it to the issuing Member State.

(2) Whenever an animal is moved, it shall be accompanied by

its passport.

(3) In the case of the death of an animal, the passport shall be

returned by the keeper to the Veterinary Services within seven days

after the death of the animal. If the animal is sent to the

slaughterhouse, the operator of the slaughterhouse shall be

responsible for returning the passport to the Veterinary Services.

(4) In the case of animals exported to third countries, the

passport shall be surrendered by the last keeper to the Veterinary

Services at the place where the animal is exported.

(1) With the exception of transporters, each keeper of

animals shall

(a) keep an up-to-date register,

(b) once the computerised database is fully operational,

report to the Veterinary Services all movements to and

from the holding and all births and deaths of animals

on the holding, along with the dates of these events,

within seven days of the event occurring.

(2) Where applicable and having regard to rule 6, each animal

keeper shall complete the passport immediately on arrival and prior

to departure of each animal from the holding and ensure that the

passport accompanies the animal.

(3) Each keeper shall supply the Veterinary Services, upon

request, with all information concerning the origin, identification

and, where appropriate, destination of animals, which he has

owned, kept, transported, marketed or slaughtered.

The register shall be in a format approved by the

Veterinary Services, kept in manual or computerised form, and be

available at all times to the Veterinary Services, upon request, for a

minimum period of not less than three years.

The Director may from time to time order a DNA test on a

selected number of bovine animals in order to verify the correctness of

the data submitted by the keeper of the animals in relation to the

identification of the mother of the selected bovine animal.

Member States may charge to keepers the costs of the

identification and registration systems referred to in rule 3 and of

the controls referred to in this Title.

The cost of the DNA test order in terms of rule 8A shall be

borne as follows

(a) In the case where the test result confirms the data

submitted by the keeper of the animals, the cost shall be

borne by the Veterinary Services;

(b) In the case where the test result confirms that the data

submitted by the keeper is not correct, the cost shall be

borne by the keeper of the animals.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this

Tit l e s ha ll b e a d o p te d i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e m a n a ge m e n t

procedure referred to in Article 23(2) of European Union

Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000. These

measures concern in particular

(a) provisions concerning ear tags;

(b) provisions concerning the passport;

(c) provisions concerning the register;

(d) minimum level of controls to be carried out;

(e) application of administrative sanctions;

(f)

transitional measures required

to

facilitate

the

application of this Title.

TITLE II

(1) An operator or an organisation, as defined in rule 2,

which -

(a) is required, by virtue of rules 12 to 14, to label beef at

all stages of marketing,

(b) wishes, by virtue of rules 15 to 17, to label beef at the

point of sale in such a way as to provide information,

other than that laid down by rule 12, concerning

certain characteristics or production conditions of the

labelled meat or of the animal from which it derives,

shall do so in accordance with this Title.

(2) This Title shall apply without prejudice to relevant

Community legislation, in particular on beef.

Compulsory beef labelling system

(1) Operators and organisations marketing beef shall label

it in accordance with this rule. The compulsory labelling system

shall ensure a link between, on the one hand, the identification of

the carcass, quarter or pieces of meat and, on the other hand, the

individual animal or, where this is sufficient to enable the accuracy

of the information on the label to be checked, the group of animals

concerned.

(2)

The label shall contain the following indications

(a) a reference number or reference code ensuring the link

between the meat and the animal or animals. This

number may be the identification number of the

individual animal from which the beef was derived or

the identification number relating to a group of

animals;

(b) the approval number of the slaughterhouse at which

the animal or group of animals was slaughtered and the

Member State or third country in which the

slaughterhouse is established. The indication shall

read: "Slaughtered in Malta (or name of the Member

State or third country) (approval number)";

(c) the approval number of the cutting hall which

performed the cutting operation on the carcass or

group of carcases and the Member State or third

country in which the hall is established. The indication

shall read: "Cutting in Malta (or name of the Member

State or third country) (approval number)".

(3)

(a) Operators and organisations shall also indicate on the

labels

(i) the Member State or third country of birth;

(ii) all Member States or third countries where

fattening took place;

(iii) the Member State or third country where

slaughter took place.

(b) However, where the beef is derived from animals born,

raised and slaughtered

(i)

in the same Member State, the indication may be

given as "Origin: (name of Member State)";

(ii) in the same third country, the indication may be

given as "Origin: (name of third country)".

By way of derogation from rule 12(2)(b) and (c) and

(3)(a)(i) and (ii), an operator or organisation preparing minced beef

shall indicate on the label the words "prepared in Malta (or name of

the Member State or third country)", depending on where the meat

was prepared, and "origin" where the State or States involved are

not the State of preparation. The obligation provided for in rule

12(3)(a)(iii) shall be applicable to such meat as from the date of

application of these rules. However, such operator or organisation

may add to the label of the minced beef

(a) one or more of the indications provided for in rule 12,

and, or

(b) the date on which the meat was prepared.

On the basis of experience, and in the light of requirements,

similar provisions may be adopted for cut meat and for beef

trimmings in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article

23(2) of European Union Parliament and Council Regulation (EC)

No 1760/2000.

By way of derogation from rule 12, beef imported into the

Community for which not all the information provided for in rule

12 is available, in accordance with the procedure referred to in rule

16, shall be labelled with the indication: "Origin: non-EC" and

BOVINE ANIMALS (IDENTIFICATION AND

REGISTRATION) AND BEEF LABELLING)

"Slaughtered in: (name of third country)".

Voluntary labelling system

15.(1)(a) For labels containing indications other than those

p r o vi d e d f o r i n r ul e s 12 t o 1 4 , ea c h op e ra t or o r

organisation shall send a specification for approval to

the competent authority in which production or sale of

the beef i n question takes place. The competent

authority may also establish specifications to be used

provided that use thereof is not compulsory.

(b) Voluntary labelling specifications shall indicate

(i) the information to be included on the label,

(ii) the measures to be taken to ensure the accuracy

of the information,

(iii) the control system which will be applied at all

stages of production and sale, including the

controls to be carried out by an independent

body recognised by the competent authority and

designated by the operator or the organisation.

These bodies shall comply with the criteria set

out in European Standard EN/45011,

(iv) in the case of an organisation, the measures to be

taken in relation to any member which fails to

comply with the specifications.

(c) Controls by an independent body may be replaced by

controls by a competent authority. The competent

authority shall in that case have at its disposal the

qualified staff and resources necessary to carry out the

requisite controls.

(d) The costs of controls provided for in this rule and in

rules 16 and 17 shall be borne by the operator or

organisation using the labelling system.

(2)

(a) The approval of any specification shall be subject to

the assurance of the competent authority, obtained on

the basis of a thorough examination of its components

as referred to in sub-rule (1), of the proper and reliable

functioning of the labelling system envisaged and, in

particular, of any specification which does not ensure a

link between, on the one hand, the identification of the

carcass, quarter or pieces of meat and, on the other

hand, the individual animal or, where this is sufficient

to enable the accuracy of the information on the label

to be checked, the animals concerned.

(b) Specifications which provide for labels containing

misleading or insufficiently clear information shall

also be refused.

(3)

(a) Where the production and,or sale of beef takes place in

two or more Member States, the competent authorities

of the Member States concerned shall examine and

approve the specifications submitted in so far as the

elements contained therein relate to operations taking

place within their respective territories. In such case,

each Member State concerned shall recognise the

approvals granted by any other Member State

concerned.

(b) If, within a period to be fixed in accordance with the

procedure referred to in Article 23(2) of European

Union Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No

1760/2000, counting from the day following the date

of submission of the application, approval has not been

refused or given, or supplementary information has not

been asked for, the specification shall be considered to

be approved by the competent authority.

(4) Where the competent authorities of all the Member States

concerned approve the specification submitted, the operator or

organisation concerned shall be entitled to label beef, provided that

the label contains its name or logo.

(5) The competent authority may decide that the name of one or

more of its regions may not be used, in particular where the name

of a region

(a) could give rise to confusion or difficulties in checking,

(b) is reserved for beef in the framework of Regulation

(EEC) No 2081/92.

(6) Where authorisation is given, the name ‘Malta’ shall appear

alongside the name of the region.

(1) Where the production of beef takes place, in full or in

part, in a third country, operators and organisations shall be entitled

to label beef according to this rule and rules 15 and 17 if, in

addition to complying with rule 15, they have obtained for their

specifications the approval of the competent authority designated

for that purpose by each of the third countries concerned.

(2) The validity within the Community of an approval granted

by a third country shall be subject to prior notification by the third

country to the Commission of

(a) the competent authority which has been designated,

(b) the procedures and criteria to be followed by the

competent authority when examining the specification,

(c) each operator and organisation whose specification

was accepted by the competent authority.

Without prejudice to any action taken by the organisation

itself or the independent control body provided for in rule 15,

where it is shown that an operator or organisation has failed to

comply with the specification referred to in rule 15(1), the

competent authority may withdraw the approval provided for in

rule 15(2) or impose supplementary conditions to be respected if its

approval is to be maintained.

General provisions

The measures necessary for the implementation of this

Tit l e s ha ll b e a d o p te d i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e m a n a ge m e n t

procedure referred to in Article 23(2) of European Union

Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000. These

measures concern in particular

(a) definition of the size of the group of animals, referred

to in rule 12(2)(a);

(b) definition of the minced beef, beef trimmings or cut

beef referred to in rule 13;

(c) definition of specific indications that may be put on

labels;

(d) measures required to facilitate the transition from the

application of Regulation (EC) No 820/97 to

application of this Title;

(e) measures required to resolve specific practical

problems. Such measures, if duly justified, may

derogate from certain parts of this Title.

TITLE III

19.(1)(a) The controls provided for shall be without prejudice to

any controls which the Commission may carry out

pursuant to Article 9 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No

2988/95.

(b) Any sanctions imposed on a holder shall be

proportionate to the gravity of the breach. The

sanctions may involve, where justified, a restriction on

movement of animals to or from the holding of the

keeper concerned.

(2) Experts from the Commission, in conjunction with the

competent authorities, shall make on-the-spot checks to verify that

checks relating to compliance with the requirements of those rules

are carried out in accordance with Regulation 1760/2000.

(3) The competent authorities shall provide the experts from

the Commission with any assistance they may require in the

performance of their tasks.

BOVINE ANIMALS (IDENTIFICATION AND

REGISTRATION) AND BEEF LABELLING)

Correlation Table

Regulation (EC) No 820/97

These rules

Article 1

Rule 1

Article 2

Rule 2

Article 3

Rule 3

Article 4

Rule 4

Article 5

Rule 5

Article 6

Rule 6

Article 7

Rules 7 and 8

Article 8

-

Article 9

Rule 9

Article 10

Rule 10

Article 11

-

Article 12

Rule 11

Article 13

Rule 12

Article 14 (1)

Rule 15 (1)

Article 14 (2)

Rule 15 (2)

Article 14 (3)

-

Article 14 (4)

Rule 15 (4)

Article 15

Rule 16

Article 16 (1)

Rule 15 (3)

Article 16 (2)

Rule 15 (3)

Article 16 (3)

Rule 12 (2)(a)

Article 17

Rule 17

Article 18

Rule 18

Article 19

-

Article 20

-

Article 21

Rule 19

Article 22

-