3.4.2 Mandatory requirements for meat packaging labels

EU countries continue to strengthen the control of all links of meat production, storage, packaging, transportation and sales, establish verification and registration systems in the production process, and enforce transparency policies for the production, packaging and sales of meat products.

After a transition period of 6 months, the EU's new label for meat products came into effect on July 1, 2003.

The main content of the new regulations is to more strictly define the concept of "meat", that is, "meat" is only edible muscle, and no longer includes fat and animal offal (including heart, intestine, liver, etc.). The fat contained in food and animal offal must be specified in the label. In addition, the new definition also requires that the species of meat source animals in the food be distinguished and explained, such as clearly marked "beef" or "pork". Finally, the new definition also excludes "mechanical cutting of meat" from the concept of meat, that is, "mechanical cutting of meat" must be listed separately in food labels after the implementation of the new regulations. The products affected by the new regulations mainly include sausages, pies, boiled meat, delicate plated foods, canned foods and other meat foods and packaging.

The European Commission stipulates that penal legislation for violations of this new regulation will be implemented by each member state.

The European Parliament and the European Council jointly formulated the 2000/1760/EC regulations. According to the above regulations, all beef sold in the EU market must implement mandatory labeling regulations.

According to regulations, in all aspects of sales, operators are required to affix mandatory labels to beef. If the label contains information other than the mandatory labeling regulations, the operator should also submit an instruction sheet to the competent authority of the member country for approval.

If all or part of the beef production process takes place in a third country, the beef business operator must affix the corresponding mark on the beef. The instructions related to the labeling must be notified to the European Commission by the competent authority of the third country before they can be used in the EU.

3.4.3 Mandatory requirements for packaging and labeling of organic food and genetically modified food

The European Union has formulated 91/2092/EC "EU Organic Agriculture Regulations", which stipulates specific regulations on the whole process of organic agriculture and organic agricultural products production, processing, packaging, trade, inspection, certification and use of articles. It is divided into 16 clauses and 6 Attachments. The formulation of animal standards was completed in 1998 and came into effect on August 24, 2000. EU standards apply to the production, processing, packaging, and trade (import and export) of all organic agricultural products (edible agricultural products) in its 15 member states. The production process of all organic agricultural products imported into the EU should comply with the EU's organic agriculture standards.

There are two ways for organic food to enter the EU market: one is for countries included in the list of third countries that have established and implemented organic standards and their standards and inspection measures comply with EU 91/2092/EC regulations. The third country can propose to the European Commission Application, after the approval of the European Commission, the country will be included in the list of third countries. The scope of approval can be products produced by certain product categories, regions or manufacturers in the country, or products certified by certain certification bodies. As of June 1999, only five countries have been included in the list of third countries:

Argentina, Australia, Hungary, Israel and Switzerland. Second, for countries that are not included in the list of third countries, products produced by them can enter the EU market under a separate license.

From April 18, 2004, Germany began to implement the genetically modified food labeling system. German consumers can learn whether the product contains genetically modified food ingredients according to the instructions on the food packaging before buying food. In Europe, edible oils, breakfast foods and chocolates containing genetically modified substances are not allowed to be sold.