Brussels, 01/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The new European rules on the labelling of fresh, chilled or frozen meat from sheep, goats, pigs and poultry, which were adopted in December 2013, have been in force since Wednesday 1 April, the European Commission has announced.
These will give consumers greater clarity, as operators will be obliged to state on the product label the country in which the animal was raised or slaughtered (see EUROPE 10979).
The adoption of these rules was called for by the European food information for consumers regulation (no.1169/2011) of the European Parliament and Council of 25 October 2011. These rules were devised to improve traceability and transparency, in the interest of consumers, whilst taking care to avoid any excessive administrative burden and costs for operators in the chain of supply.
The delay between adoption and application of the rules was planned to allow the sector to organise itself. The obligatory labelling of meat origin was already applicable to beef meat.
The obligatory labelling of the origin of meat used as an ingredient in ready meals is a possibility which is still under examination. The increasingly impatient European Parliament recently called upon the European Commission to legislate (see EUROPE 11251). (Aminata Niang)