Luxembourg, 11/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 11 June in Luxembourg, the Agriculture Council adopted without debate the regulation tightening up the labelling of veal meat. It will provide the consumer with information about the type of meat he or she is buying. In this way, operators must include the terms “veal, veal meat” on labels only if the animal was slaughtered between 0 and 8 months and “young bovine animal meat” if the animal was slaughtered between 8 and 12 months. This will mean that the term “veal” may no longer be used for the labelling of meat from animals aged over 12 months. To avoid any risk of competition distortion, meats imported from third countries must respect these new labelling provisions. The European Union produces some 800,000 tonnes of veal every year. The main producers are France (30% of the total), the Netherlands (26%), Italy (18%), Belgium (7%) and Germany (6%). France and Italy are among the largest consumers of veal, accounting for around 70% of total European consumption. (lc)