Brussels, 08/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament is expected to beef up the initial draft of new EU rules on what constitutes 'veal' to make them more binding and coherent (see EUROPE 9272 for details of the European Commission's draft proposal). A report by Bernadette Bourzai (PES, France) will be debated at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 March and a vote is expected in plenary the next day.
The EP's Agriculture Committee, which unanimously adopted the Bourzai Report on 24 January 2007, aims to fill the main gaps in the planned legislation through amendments to allow member states to issue proportionate, dissuasive penalties in the event of failure to respect veal labelling rules, and to ensure the regulation does not only apply to fresh or frozen meat but also to cooked and processed products. The report renames categories X and Y, which could be confused with the animal's gender, V for 'veal' and Z for 'young bovine animals'. The report confirms the initial draft's decision to exclude controlled appellations of origin (CAO) and protected geographical indications (PGI) (which are very specific) from the scope of the regulation in order to ensure they are able to keep their special marketing names. The EP's Agriculture Committee also agrees with the option of allowing operators to add other details to labels (like the type of feed the animal received).
The European Commission is suggesting introducing detailed definitions of veal meat in terms of how old the animal was when it was slaughtered, which is easier to control than the type of diet the animal received. It is suggesting two categories: X for animals slaughtered when they are up to 8 months old (known as veal) and Y for animals slaughtered when between 9 and 12 months old. The name 'young bovine animals' would be compulsory for Y, apart from on the domestic markets of four member states (Denmark, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands) where the name 'veal' could still be used for category Y to take account of their specific culture and traditions. The terms 'veal' and 'veal meat' would no longer be able to be used for labelling meat from animals over the age of 12 months.
Necessary harmonisation
In some countries, like France, calves are fed mainly of milk and milk products and if an animal is slaughtered above the age of six months, the meat is no longer referred to as 'veal' but rather as 'young bovine animal meat'. In other countries, like Spain, the animals are almost exclusively fed on cereals, supplemented with fodder, and the term 'veal' ('ternera') can be used up to the age of 14 months. Most EU member states, particularly Spain and Denmark, use the term 'veal' for up to 12 or even 14 months for animals fed on cereals. In the Netherlands, Europe's second biggest producer of veal calf meat (after France and ahead of Italy), the two branches exist in parallel, namely the 'white veal' sector, which accounts for about 85% of the total) that uses the first system of rearing, and the minority 'pink veal' sector, which emerged at the end of the 1980s and uses the second system.
EU legislation takes account of the 8 month limit for determining animals eligible for slaughter premiums and also the size of the slaughter premium. New legislation is necessary because at the moment, no mention on labelling is usually made to the type of feed received by the animals or their age at the time of slaughter and, given the way the terms may be translated, traders and consumers often find themselves faced with very different products sold under the same description. The Commission points out that 'this practice could disturb trade and encourage unfair competition,' with price differences of between two and three euros per kilogram ex-slaughterhouse between meat from animals aged less than eight months and those aged between 8 and 12 months.
EU veal production totalled just over 800,000 tonnes, carcass weight equivalent, in 2005. Some 85% of production is concentrated in just five member states: France (30%), the Netherlands (25%), Italy (18%) and Belgium and Germany (both 6%). Consumption is even more concentrated, with France and Italy alone accounting for nearly 70% of European veal consumption. There is at present little trade in veal with countries outside the EU. Trade within the EU is virtually confined to exports from the Netherlands (of around 200,000 tonnes a year). Italy is the main market for Dutch exports, taking 43.2% of the total in 2005, followed by Germany and France, accounting for 20.4% and 19.7% respectively. (lc)