Beef and veal labelling: guidance
You must label beef, veal, mince and trimmings according to compulsory rules; extra information must meet food labelling legislation.
Anyone who supplies fresh or frozen beef or veal must comply with the regulations on traceability and beef labelling.
Premises licensed to slaughter cattle and/or cut beef by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) - abattoirs, cutting plants or catering butchers - are inspected by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
Other premises (eg most cold stores, repackaging centres, butchers’ shops, mobile shops, market stalls, supermarkets or farm shops) are inspected by local authorities.
Compulsory labelling
The Compulsory Beef Labelling Scheme is a system to give buyers clear, reliable information about beef on sale. An important aim of the system is to enable consumers to know where beef on sale originated.
Voluntary information
You can add extra information to your beef labels voluntarily, but you must make sure that any information added meets the requirements of the current food labelling legislation. You can find more information about this under ‘food labelling and packaging’.
Read old guidance on the National Archives website
Relevant regulations
The Beef and Veal Labelling (England) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/983)
The Beef and Veal Labelling (Wales) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/991 (W. 145))
Regulation EUR 2000/1825, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) 275/2007
The Single Common Market Organisation (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3235)
The Single Common Market Organisation (Consequential Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3270) (W.320)
Contact
If your business is an approved red meat establishment with the FSA you should contact the Meat Technical Schemes team at RPA if you have questions about the scheme:
Meat Technical Schemes
Rural Payments Agency
Eden Bridge House
Lowther Street
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA3 8DX
Email MTS.Carlisle@rpa.gov.uk
Telephone 03300 416508
Traceability
Compulsory labelling
Voluntary labelling
Inspections and enforcement
Last updated 1 January 2021 + show all updates
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Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 changed to Regulation EUR 2000/1760 Regulation (EC) No 1825/2000 changed to Regulation EUR 2000/1825 Regulation (EC) No 1308/2013 changed to Regulation EUR 2013/1308
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First published.