L216[8 Official Journal of the European Communities 26.8.2000 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1825/2000 of 25 August 2000 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council 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 Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the Euro- pean Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 estab- lishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 (!), and in particular Article 19 thereof, Whereas: 1) () ) Detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 should be laid down, in particular as regards sales between Member States, in order that the labelling system will not lead to distortions of trade on the beef and veal market. In order to ensure traceability, it is necessary, in the context of both the compulsory and voluntary systems of beef labelling, that operators and organisations keep an identification system and a comprehensive registra- tion system for beef, at each of its various stages of production and sale. In order to identify slaughterhouses for which no approval number exists, it is necessary, for a transitional period, to provide alternative methods of identification for such slaughterhouses. It is also necessary to define the procedure to be followed for labelling beef derived from animals, the full birth and movement data of which are not available because recording of those data was only required after 1 January 1998 by Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the identifica- tion and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (?), A similar provision is required for labelling beef derived from animals imported live into the Community from third countries. In the context of the full indication of origin, in order to avoid unnecessary repetition of the indication on the label of the Member States or third countries where rearing took place, it is necessary to introduce a simpli- fied presentation based on the time during which the animal from which the beef was derived was kept in the Member State or third country of birth or of slaughter. 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1. 0] L 0] L 117, 7.5.1997, p. 1. (6) (10) (11) It is necessary to clarify the situation with regard to the supplementary information which may be included on labels under the simplified labelling procedures for minced beef. Such supplementary information may, under Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000, be indicated until 1 September 2000. Certain information may only be indicated until 1 January 2002 if the Member State concerned has taken a decision to apply a national compulsory labelling system including such information or if the operator concerned indicates the information on a voluntary basis. In the context of the voluntary beef labelling system, it is necessary to provide for an accelerated or simplified approval procedure for certain beef cuts labelled in a Member State according to an approved specification and introduced into the territory of another Member State. With a view to guaranteeing the reliability of the specifi- cation, it is necessary for the independent body and the competent authority to have access to all records kept by the operators and organisations and to carry out regular spot checks on the basis of risk analysis. Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 lays down certain provisions where the production of beef takes place, in full or in part, in a third country. It is appro- priate to provide detailed implementing rules for the approval procedure for imports of beef from third coun- tries. In order to ensure that the labelling arrangements relating to imported beef are of equivalent reliability to those applicable to Community beef, the Commission shall examine notifications received from third countries. Complete notifications shall be transmitted 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 stan- dards set out in Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000. In order to guarantee the reliability of the labelling system in third countries the Commission may request additional information and should take the necessary measures in the light of the information received as a result of these requests. The Commission may carry out checks in third coun- tries. 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. If such consent is not forthcoming, the Commission should take the necessary measures.