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According to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the Union scales for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses and as regards the reporting of market prices of certain categories of carcasses and live animals, in order to reduce administrative burden, Member States should have the possibility to grant derogations from the general obligation to classify carcasses to small scale establishments.
On the basis of experience gained with the application of the Union scale for classification, it is appropriate to provide for such derogations for slaughterhouses which slaughter, as an annual average per week, less than 150 bovine animals aged eight months or more or less than 500 pigs. Nevertheless, Member States may determine lower limits depending on their national conditions, especially in order to ensure the representativeness of price reporting.;
As certain slaughterhouses fatten, in their own establishments, bovine animals aged eight months or more and pigs, there is no market price to be recorded for the carcasses of such animals. Therefore, the application of the compulsory Union classification scales is unnecessary in these cases. It is therefore appropriate to allow the Member States having this practice to derogate from the rules on compulsory carcass classifications as regards these carcasses. This derogation should be also allowed for the classification of carcasses of local pig breeds with a particular anatomical body composition or particular modes of marketing when they make the homogeneous and standardised classification of carcasses impossible.
As the lean meat percentage of pig carcasses has increased steadily, the majority of pig carcasses are classified only in two classes. It is therefore necessary to allow Member States to further subdivide into subclasses the pig carcass classification classes laid down in point B.II of Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, in order to ensure the differentiation of pig carcasses.
Taking into account the market requirements for the determination of the commercial value of the pig carcass, assessment criteria in addition to weight and the estimated lean-meat content should also be authorised.
Tuesday July 4, 2017/ OJEU/ European Union.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu
