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Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1538/91 of 5 June 1991 introducing detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1906/90 on certain marketing standards for poultrymeat

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1538/91 of 5 June 1991 introducing detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1906/90 on certain marketing standards for poultrymeat

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1906/90 of 26 June 1990 on certain marketing standards for poultrymeat(1), and in particular Article 9 thereof,

  1. Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1906/90 enacted certain marketing standards for poultrymeat, the application of which requires the adoption of provisions concerning in particular the list of those poultry carcases, parts thereof and offals to which the said Regulation applies, classification by conformation, appearance an weight, types of presentation, the indication of the name under which the products in question are to be sold, the optional use of indications concerning chilling methods and the type of farming, conditions for storage and transport of certain types of poultrymeat and the supervision of these provisions in order to ensure their uniform application throughout the Community;

  2. Whereas, in order to provide for the marketing of poultry in different classes according to conformation and appearance, it is necessary to lay down definitions relating to species, age and presentation in the case of carcases, and anatomical conformation and content in the case of poultry cuts; whereas in the case of the product known as ‘Foie gras’ the high value and consequent risk of fraudulent practices make it necessary to lay down especially precise minimum marketing standards;

  3. Whereas it is not necessary for these standards to be applied to certain products and presentations which are of local or otherwise limited importance; whereas, however, names under which such products are sold should not be likely to mislead the consumer to a material degree by causing him to confuse these products with products which are subject to these provisions; whereas, similarly, additional descriptive terms used to qualify the names of such products should also be subject to this provision;

  4. Whereas storage and handling temperature is of crucial importance to the maintenance of high standards of quality; whereas, therefore, it is appropriate to lay down a minimum temperature at which forzen poultrymeat products are to be kept;

  5. Whereas the provisions of this Regulation and in particular those relating to surveillance and enforcement must be applied uniformly throughout the Community; whereas detailed rules adopted to those ends must also be uniform; whereas it is therefore necessary to lay down common measures in the matter of sampling procedures and tolerances;

  6. Whereas it is necessary, both in order that the consumer be provided with sufficient, unequivocal and objective information concerning such products offered for sale, and in order to secure the free movement of such products throughout the Community, to ensure that poultrymeat marketing standards take into account as far as is paracticable (SIC! practicable) the provisions of Council Directive 76/211/EEC of 20 January 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making-up by weight or by volume of certain prepackaged products(2), as amended by Directive 78/891/EEC(3);

  7. Whereas among the indications which may optionally be ued on the labelling are those concerning the method of chilling and particular types of farming; whereas the use of the latter, in the interest of consumer protection, needs to be subordinated to the respect of closely-defined criteria concerning both husbandry conditions and quantity thresholds for stating certain criteria such as age at slaughter or length of fattening period and content of certain foodstuff ingredients;

  8. Whereas it is appropriate for the Commission to exercise permanent surveillance of the compatibility with Community law, including the marketing standards, in particular of any national measures adopted in pursuance of these provisions; whereas particular provision should also be made for the registration and regular inspection of undertakings authorized to use terms referring to particular types of farming; whereas such undertakings must therefore be obliged to maintain regular and detailed records for this purpose;

  9. Whereas, in view of the specialized nature of these inspections, responsibility for them may be delegated by the competent authorities of the Member State concerned, subject to the appropriate supervision and safeguards, to properly qualified and duly licensed outside bodies;

  10. Whereas operators in third countries may wish to make use of optional indications concerning chilling methods and types of farming; whereas provision should be made for them to do so, subject to appropriate certification by the competent authority of the third country concerned, and which appears on a list established by the Commission;

  11. Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committe for Poultrymeat and Eggs,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The products referred to in Article 1 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1906/90 are hereby defined as follows:

  1. Poultry carcases

    1. DOMESTIC FOWL (Gallus domesticus)

      • chicken, broiler: fowl in which the tip of the sternum is flexible (not ossified),

      • cock, hen, casserole or boiling fowl: fowl in which the tip of the sternum is rigid (ossified),

      • capon: male fowl castrated surgically before reaching sexual maturity and slaughtered at a minimum age of 140 days: after castration the capons must be fattened for at least 77 days,

      • poussin, coquelet: chicken of less than 650 g carcase weight (expressed without giblets, head and feet), chicken of 650 g to 750 g may be called ‘poussin’ if the age at slaughter does not exceed 28 days. Member States may apply Article 11 for the checking of this slaughter age,

      • young cock: male chicken of laying strains in which the tip of sternum is rigid but not completely ossified and for which the age at slaughter is at least 90 days;

    2. TURKEYS (Meleagris gallopavo dom.)

      • (young) turkey: bird in which the tip of the sternum is flexible (not ossified),

      • turkey: bird in which the tip of the sternum is rigid (ossified);

    3. DUCKS (Anas platyrhynchos dom., cairina muschata), Mulard ducks (c.m.x.a.p.),

      • young duck or duckling, (young) Muscovy duck, (young) Mulard duck: bird in which the tip of the sternum is flexible (not ossified),

      • duck, Muscovy duck, Mulard duck: bird in which the tip of the sternum is rigid (ossified);

    4. GEESE (Anser anser dom.)

      • (young) goose or gosling: bird in which the tip of the sternum is flexible (not ossified). The fat layer all over the carcase is thin or moderate; the fat of the young goose may have a colour indicative of a special diet,

      • goose: bird in which the tip of the sternum is rigid (ossified); a moderate to thick fat layer is present all over the carcase;

    5. GUINEA FOWL (Numida meleagris domesticus)

      • (young) guinea fowl: bird in which the tip of the sternum is flexible (not ossified),

      • guinea fowl: bird in which the tip of the sternum is rigid (ossified).

    For the purpose of this Regulation, variants of the above terms relating to sex shall be construed as equivalent.

  2. Poultry cuts

    1. Half: half of the carcase, obtrained by a longitudinal cut in a plane along the sternum and the backbone;

    2. Quarter: leg quarter or breast quarter, obtained by a transversal cut of a half;

    3. Unseparated leg quarters: both leg quarters united by a portion of the back, with or without the rump;

    4. Breast: the sternum and the ribs, or part thereof, distributed on both sides of its, together with the surrounding musculature. The breast may be presented as a whole or a half;

    5. Leg: the femur, tibia and fibula together with the surrounding musculature. The two cuts shall be made at the joints;

    6. Chicken leg with a portion of the back: the weight of the back does not exceed 25 % of that of the whole cut;

    7. Thigh: the femur together with the surrounding muscultature. The two cuts shall be made at the joints;

    8. Drumstick: the tibia and fibula together with the surrounding musculature. The two cuts shall be made at the joints;

    9. Wing: the humerus, radius, and ulna, together with the surrounding musculature. In the case of turkey wings, humerus or radius/ulna together with the surrounding musculature may be presented separately. The tip, including the carpal bones, may or may not have been removed. The cuts shall be made at the joints;

    10. Unseparated wings: both wings united by a portion of the back, where the weight of the latter does not exceed 45 % of that of the whole cut;

    11. Breast fillet: the whole or half of the breast deboned, i.e. without sternum and ribs. In the case of turkey breast, the fillet may comprise the deep pectoral muscle only;

    12. Breast fillet with wishbone: the breast fillet without skin with the clavicle and the cartilagenous point of the sternum only, the weight of clavicle and cartilage not to exceed 3 % of that of the cut;

    13. Magret, maigret: breast fillet of ducks and geese referred to in 3 comprising skin and sub-cutan fat covering the breast muscle, without the deep pectoral muscle;

    14. Deboned turkey leg meat: turkey thighs and/or drumsticks, deboned, i.e. without femur, tibia and fibula, whole, diced or cut into strips.

    For the products listed under (e), (g) and (h) the wording ‘cuts shall be made at the joints’ is to mean cuts made within the two lines deliminating the joints as shown in the graphical presentation in Annex Ia.

    Until 31 December 1991, in the case of products listed under (e), (g) and (h) the two cuts may be made near the joints.

    Products listed under (d) to (k) may be presented with or without skin. The absence of the skin in the case of products listed under (d) to (j) or the presence of the skin in the case of the product listed under (k) shall be mentioned on the labelling within the meaning of Article 1 (3) (a) of Council Directive 2000/13/EC(4).

  3. Foie gras:

    the livers of geese, or of ducks of the species cairina muschata or c.m. × Anas platyrachos which have been fed in such a way as to produce hepatic fatty cellular hypertrophy.

    The birds from which such livers are removed shall have been completely bled, and the livers be of a uniform colour.

    The livers shall be of the following weight:

    • duck livers shall weigh at least 300 g net,

    • goose livers shall weigh at least 400 g net.

Article 1 a

For the purposes of this Regulation:

  • ‘marketing’ means holding or displaying for sale, offering for sale, selling, delivery or any other form of marketing;

  • ‘batch’ means poultrymeat of the same species and type, the same class, the same production run, from the same slaughterhouse or cutting plant, situated in the same place, which are to be inspected. For the purposes of Article 8 and Annexes V and VI, a batch shall only comprise prepackages of the same nominal weight category.

Article 2

1.

Poultry carcases shall, in order to be marketed in accordance with this Regulation, be presented for sale in one of the following forms:

  • partially eviscerated (‘effilé’, ‘roped’),

  • with giblets,

  • without giblets.

The word ‘eviscerated’ may be added.

2.

Partially eviscerated carcases are carcases from which the heart, liver, lungs, gizzard, crop, and kidneys have not been removed.

3.

For all carcase presentations, if the head is not removed, trachea, oesophagus and crop may remain in the carcase.

4.

Giblets shall comprise only the following:

The heart, neck, gizzard and liver, and all other parts considered as edible by the market on which the product is intended for final consumption. Livers shall be without gall bladders. The gizzard shall be without the horned membrane, and the contents of the gizzard shall have been removed. The heart may be with or without the pericardial sac. If the neck remains attached to the carcase, it is not considered as one of the giblets.

Where one of these four organs is customarily not included with the carcase for sale, its absence shall be mentioned on the labelling.

Article 3

1.

The names under which the products covered by this Regulation are sold, within the meaning of Article 3 (1) (1) of Directive 79/112/EEC, shall be those enumerated in Article 1 and the corresponding terms in the other Community languages listed in Annex I qualified in the case

  • of whole carcases by reference to one of the forms of presentation as laid down in Article 2 (1),

  • of poultry cuts, by reference to the respective species.

2.

The names defined in Article 1 (1) and (2) may be supplemented by other terms provided that the latter do not mislead the consumer to a material degree and in particular such as would lead to confusion with other products listed in Article 1 (1) and (2) or with indications provided for in Article 10.

Article 4

Article 5

Article 6

Article 7

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

Article 12

Article 13

Article 14a

Article 14b

Article 15

ANNEX I

ANNEX I A

ANNEX II

ANNEX III

ANNEX IV

ANNEX VDETERMINATION OF THAW LOSS(Drip test)

ANNEX VI(8)DETERMINATION OF THE TOTAL WATER CONTENT OF CHICKENS(Chemical test)

ANNEX VIaDETERMINATION OF THE TOTAL WATER CONTENT OF POULTRY CUTS(Chemical test)

ANNEX VIICheck on absorption of water in the production establishment

ANNEX VIII

ANNEX IX