Ministerial Decree establishing additional provisions for the implementation of Regulation No. 820/97/EC regarding the labelling of beef and beef products.

The Decree makes provision for the implementation of Regulation No. 820/97/EC. The competent authority (as provided for by article 20 of the Regulation) for said implementation shall be the Minister for Agricultural Policies. The Decree establishes the requirements that operators or organizations must satisfy to be authorized to the labelling of beef and beef products. Among other matters, the operator or organization shall submit a specification for approval to the Minister for Agricultural Policies according to the procedure set out in article 4. For this purpose and for other purposes connected therewith there shall be established under the Ministry an "ad hoc" advisory commission (art. 6). The general implementation of the Decree is entrusted to the Ministry for Agricultural Policies, which shall inter alia: approve or refuse to approve the labelling procedures and criteria; notify to the EU Commission the procedures and criteria that have been approved; control the activity of the organizations engaged in the labelling of beef and beef products. A label shall not contain any information relating to the animal from which the beef originates other than that which appears in the following list: (a) country or holding of birth; (b) countries or holdings where all or any part of fattening took place (partial fattening has to be specified as well); (c) country or slaughterhouse where slaughter took place; (d) identification number and sex of the animal; (e) method of fattening or other information relating to feeding; (f) information on slaughtering, such as the age at slaughter and the date of slaughter or the period during which the beef was matured; (g) other information included in the specifications; (h) number or code for the identification of the carcass, quarter or pieces of meat on the one hand, and of the individual animal or animals concerned on the other hand. The control on the proper implementation of the provisions of the Decree shall be exercised by the Ministry for Agricultural Policies in cooperation with the National Health Service.