One man’s beef is no longer another man’s veal

European Union agriculture ministers have finally agreed to clarify the marketing conditions for meat from bovine animals aged 12 months or less. The new rules will require the use of fixed sales descriptions for these meats in the various Member States coupled with an indication of the age category of the animals at slaughter.

The production and marketing of meat from cattle aged 12 months or less and its characteristics at the time of slaughter often differ from one Member State of the European Union to another. There are two major types of production system. In the first, the animals are fed mainly on milk and milk products and are slaughtered before the age of eight months. In the second system, the animals are fed almost exclusively on cereals " primarily maize " supplemented with fodder, and are slaughtered at an age of 10 months and above. While the first type of production exists in almost all Member States, the second has developed in only a small number of Member States, mainly the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain.

On the main consumer markets in the EU, meat from these different production systems has until now generally been marketed under one single sales description " "veal'. As a rule, no reference is made to the type of feed received by the animals or their age at the time of slaughter.

The agriculture council adopted the commission proposal establishing sales descriptions to be used in each Member State for the marketing of the meat of animals in the categories 0"8 months and 8-12 months, coupled with a requirement to indicate the age category of the animals on slaughter. When selecting sales descriptions, the new rules will take account as far as possible of customs and cultural traditions to help consumers make a choice in line with their expectations. As a result, for meat in the first category, the sales description will be "veal'. For those in the second category, the description will be "beef' in the United Kingdom and 'rosé veal' in Ireland.

Similarly, the term "veal' or any new name deriving from the sales descriptions in the proposal may not be used on the labelling of meat from animals aged more than 12 months.

For the sake of consistency and in order to avoid any distortion of competition, meat imported from third countries will also be subject to the provisions of this Regulation.