Meat imported from third countries

1. For the purpose of point VIII of Annex XIa to Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, the competent authority designated by a third country, or failing that, an independent third-party body referred to in point VIII of Annex XIa to that Regulation, shall approve and control an identification and registration system of the bovine animals concerned starting from the day of birth of the animals. Such a system shall provide reliable information about the exact age of the animals on slaughter and provide guarantees as to the respect of point VIII of Annex XIa to that Regulation.

2. The independent third-party bodies referred to in point VIII of Annex XIa to Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 shall be accredited to comply with the most recent notified version of European Standard EN 45011 or ISO Guide 65 (General requirements for bodies operating products certification systems) published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union .

3. The name and address, if possible including e-mail and internet address, of the competent authority or independent third-party body referred to in paragraph 1 shall be notified to the Commission, indicating each individual operator for whom they are carrying out checks.

The notification referred to in the first subparagraph shall be made before the first consignment of meat of each individual operator is imported into the Community and thereafter within one month after any changes in the information to be notified.

The Commission shall communicate the notifications referred to in the second subparagraph to the Member States.

4. Upon request of the competent authorities of the Member States or on its own initiative, the Commission may at any moment request from the competent authority or independent third-party body referred to in paragraph 1 to supply all information necessary to guarantee the fulfilment of the requirements laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007.

The Commission may further request the third country to authorise representatives of the Commission to carry out, where required, on-the-spot checks in that third country. These checks shall be performed jointly with the competent authorities concerned in the third country and, where applicable, with the independent third-party body.

5. Where, as regards meat imported from third countries, specific cases of non-compliance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 or of this Regulation are detected, the Commission may fix, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 195(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, specific import conditions on a case by case and strictly temporary basis following consultations with the third country concerned. These conditions shall be proportionate to allow verification of compliance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and of this Regulation.

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 566/2008 of 18 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards the marketing of the meat of bovine animals aged 12 months or less