The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1337/2013 of 13 December 2013 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for fresh, chilled and frozen meat of swine, sheep, goats and poultry(1),

–  having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004(2) (the ‘Food Information to Consumers Regulation’), and in particular Articles 7(1) and 26, (2), (8) and (9) thereof,

–  having regard to Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers(3), and in particular Article 11 thereof,

–  having regard to Rule 88(2) and (3) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas Article 26(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 requires country of origin labelling for meat falling within the Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes listed in Annex XI to that Regulation (which includes fresh, chilled or frozen meat of swine, sheep, goats and poultry);

B.  whereas the application of Article 26(2) is subject to the adoption of implementing acts pursuant to paragraph (8) of that article, hence the adoption of the Commission implementing regulation in question; whereas, in accordance with recital 59 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, those implementing acts must lay down the manner of indicating the country of origin or place of provenance for meat referred to in Article 26(2)(b);

C.  whereas paragraph 9 of Article 26 requires the Commission to consider, in its impact assessments and reports on the application of point (b) of paragraph (2) of that article, inter alia the options for the modalities of expressing the country of origin or place of provenance of those foods, in particular with respect to each of the following determining points in the life of the animal: place of birth, place of rearing and place of slaughter;

D.  whereas, in its vote of 16 June 2010 on the Food Information to Consumers Regulation, Parliament supported labelling the country of origin for birth, rearing and slaughter for fresh, chilled and frozen meat(4);

E.  whereas, according to Article 7(1) of the Food Information to Consumers Regulation, food information should not be misleading as to the characteristics of the food and, in particular, as to its country of origin or place of provenance;

F.  whereas indication of origin has been mandatory for beef and beef products in the Union as a consequence of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis(5), and Union rules for beef labelling have been in place since 1 January 2002; whereas these labelling requirements already include place of birth, rearing and slaughter;

G.  whereas the above-mentioned requirements applicable to beef and beef products have raised consumer expectations as regards information on the origin of other types of meat widely consumed in the Union;

H.  whereas recital 31 of the Food Information to Consumers Regulation underlines the fact that the origin of meat is of prime concern to consumers and as a result consumers expect to be properly informed about the country of origin of meat; whereas this is further confirmed by recent studies and consumer research reports(6);

I.  whereas, in order to provide consumers with accurate information on the origin of meat, the indication of the places of birth, rearing and slaughter should appear on the food label; whereas this would also allow consumers to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the animal welfare standards and environmental impact relating to a meat product;

J.  whereas the recent food scandals, including the fraudulent substitution of horsemeat for beef, have shown that stricter rules on traceability and consumer information are both needed and wanted by consumers;

K.  whereas applying an ‘EU’ or ‘non-EU’ label to minced meat and trimmings is almost meaningless and might set an undesirable precedent, especially regarding any future labelling of the country of origin for meat used as an ingredient; whereas origin labelling requirements for beef show that more precise indication of the origin of minced meat and trimmings is both feasible and appropriate in order to ensure consumer information and traceability;

1.  Considers that the Commission implementing regulation exceeds the implementing powers conferred on the Commission under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011;

2.  Calls on the Commission to withdraw the implementing regulation;

3.  Calls on the Commission to draw up a revised version of the implementing regulation, which should include a mandatory labelling requirement for the place of birth, as well as those of rearing and slaughter, for unprocessed meat of pigs, poultry, sheep and goats in accordance with the existing beef origin labelling legislation;

4.  Calls on the Commission to remove any derogation in the implementing regulation for minced meat and trimmings;

5.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

(1) OJ L 335, 14.12.2013, p.19. (2) OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, p. 18. (3) OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13. (4) OJ C 236 E, 12.8.2011, p. 187. (5) Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 establishing 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 (OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p.1). (6) For example: Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and Council regarding the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for meat used as an ingredient (COM (2013)0755), and the accompanying Commission Staff Working document of 17 December 2013 on origin labelling for meat used as an ingredient: consumers’ attitudes, feasibility of possible scenarios and impacts (SWD (2013)0437); and the survey of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) of 24 January 2013 on origin labelling (see: http://www.beuc.org/Content/Default.asp?PageID=2139).