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A 20,000 tonne (swt) import quota for grainfed high quality grain-fed beef was opened to EU approved red meat supplying countries on 1 August 2009. To date, the USA and Australia have been granted access.
The in-quota import duty is 0% and the quota is operated on an annual basis (via licences awarded to EU importers) from 1 July to 30 June. Importers should contact their relevant authorities for details on applying for a licence.
The quota applies to high-quality fresh, chilled or frozen beef that fulfils the following requirements:
- Beef cuts are obtained from carcasses of heifers and steers less than 30 months of age which have only been fed a diet, for at least the last 100 days before slaughter, containing not less than 62% of concentrates and/or feed grain co-products on a dietary dry matter basis that meet or exceed a metabolisable energy content greater than 12.26 mega joules per one kilogram of dry matter.
- The heifers and steers that are fed the diet described above shall be fed, on average, no less than 1.4 % of live body weight per day on a dry matter basis.
Carcase quality for Australian product
Carcases must have:
- a degree of ossification less than 260;
- beef colour conforms to AUS-MEAT meat colour reference standards 1 B to 3;
- at colour to AUS-MEAT fat colour reference standards 0-3;
- and fat depth (measured at the P8 site) to AUS-MEAT to fat classes 3 to 5 (7-32 mm).
The carcass from which beef cuts are derived are evaluated by an evaluator employed by the national government who bases the evaluation, and a resulting classification of the carcass, on a method approved by the national government. The national government evaluation method, and its classifications, must evaluate expected carcass quality using a combination of carcass maturity and palatability traits of the beef cuts.
Such an evaluation method of the carcass shall include, but not be limited to, an evaluation of the maturity characteristics of colour and texture of the longissimus dorsi muscle and bone and cartilage ossification, as well as an evaluation of expected palatability traits, including a combination of the discrete specifications of intramuscular fat and firmness of the longissimus dorsi muscle.
The cuts shall be labelled in accordance with Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The indication ‘High Quality Beef’ may be added to the information on the label.
Click here to see Commission Regulation (EC) No 620/2009
Click here to see Commission Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000
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