Brussels, 30/08/2011 (Agence Europe) - Allowing electronic identification of cattle will, according to the European Commission, further enhance food safety and better safeguard animal health in the EU. This is the flagship idea in a draft regulation adopted by the European Commission on Tuesday 30 August. The Commission proposal provides the legal framework for the introduction, for the first time and on a voluntary basis, of an electronic identification system (EID) for bovine animals. Bovine EID is already used in several EU member states on a private basis mainly for farm management purposes. The Commission believes that its implementation on a wider scale will strengthen the current traceability system for bovine animals and food products (e.g. beef) making it faster and more accurate.
In addition to EID, the Commission proposal introduces changes in relation to labelling, by repealing the current provisions - Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 which lays down the principles for setting up a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals as well as labelling of beef and beef products - on voluntary beef labelling. The main objective here is to reduce unnecessary administrative burden.
Commenting on the proposal, Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli said: “This is a new step forward in the reinforcement of the safety of the food chain in the EU. Indeed, when implemented, this proposal will facilitate the reporting of animal movements to the central database. This will mean better and faster traceability of infected animals and/or infected food, which will allow us to react rapidly and fend off any future potential risks to the food chain”.
Among the advantages of voluntary electronic identification of cattle, the Commission highlights stronger consumer protection, improved disease prevention and control and crisis management, support for the competitiveness of the sector (e.g. by facilitating identification and registration controls or by improving breeding animal and production management systems) and improved trade perspectives. Meat processing establishments and traders of live animals will also benefit through a reduction of labour costs.
The main goal of Regulation 1760/2000 was to re-establish consumer confidence in beef and beef products, after the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis, through transparency and full traceability of bovine animals and beef products. Consultation of those in the sector and all stakeholders demonstrated that, for the vast majority, the current regime of traceability and bovine identification has been successful. Nevertheless, improvements can be made in order to make the current system more accurate and faster by reducing processing time, errors and administrative burden.
The preferred option of those consulted was the introduction of voluntary electronic identification. It was felt that a compulsory system might harm some operators economically. It will now be for the Council and the European Parliament to have their say. (A.N./transl.rt)