L 332/36 Official Journal of the European Communities 4. 12. 97 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2406/97 of 3 December 1997 amending Regulation (EC) No 1141/97 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 as regards the labelling of beef and beef products THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products ('), and in particular Article 18 thereof, Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 1141/97 (%) lays down detailed rules as regards the labelling of beef and beef products; Whereas Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 820/97 provides for certain provisions where the production of beef takes place, in full or in part, in a third country; whereas it is appropriate to provide for detailed imple- menting rules for the approval procedure for imports of beef from third countries; Whereas in order to ensure that the labelling arrange- ments relating to imported beef are of equivalent reli- ability to those applicable to Community beef, the Com- mission shall examine notifications received from third countries; whereas complete notifications shall be trans- mitted to the Member States when the Commission reaches the conclusion that the procedures and/or criteria applied in the third country concerned are equivalent to the standards set out in Regulation (EC) No 820/97; Whereas in order to guarantee the reliability of the label- ling system in third countries the Commission may request additional information and should take the neces- sary measures in the light of the information received as a result of these requests; Whereas the Commission may carry out checks in third countries; whereas in order to be able to carry out checks in a third country the Commission would need the prior consent of the third country concerned; whereas if such consent is not forthcoming, the Commission should take the necessary measures; Whereas it is opportune to prolong the transitional period taking account of several practical problems that have arisen in Member States as well as in third countries; OJ L 117, 7. 5. 1997, p. 1. oJ L (") @ 165, 24. 6. 1997, p. 7. Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion 'of the Management Committee for Beef and Veal, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 1141/97 is hereby amended as follows: (a) the following Article 4a is inserted: Article 4a Approvals granted by third countries 1. The Commission shall verify that notifications are complete as provided for in Article 15 (2) of Regu- lation (EC) No 820/97. On receipt of a notification which is incomplete, the Commission shall inform the third country concerned, indicating the information which is required. Complete notifications shall be transmitted to Member States without delay unless the Commission reaches the conclusion that the procedures and/or criteria applied in the third country concerned are not equivalent to the standards set out in Regulation (EC) No 820/97 in accordance with its power to do so pursuant to the third subparagraph of Article 15 (2) of that Regulation. 2. If, at any time, the Commission considers, on the basis of the notification provided for in Article 15 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 820/97, that it is appropriate to verify that the procedures and/or criteria notified by a third country are currently equivalent to the standards set out in Regulation (EC) No 820/97, the Commis- sion may request the third country to provide any necessary information. In particular, the Commission may request the third country to provide copies of the specifications approved by the designated competent authority. The Commission may further request the third country to authorize representatives of the Commission to carry out checks in the third country.