Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1979 > Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities > Report No. 42 - Common Standards for the Water Content of Frozen and Deep-frozen Chickens, Hens and Cocks

REPORT

Proposal Examined

1. The Joint Committee has examined the proposal made by the Commission for a Council Regulation amending Regulation No. 2967/76 laying down common standards for the water content of frozen and deep-frozen chickens, hens and cocks. The twenty-eighth report (Prl. 5343) of the previous Joint Committee dated 24th March, 1976 deals with the Commission proposal which on adoption by the Council became Regulation No. 2967/76.

Scope of Proposal

2. Regulation (EEC) No. 2967/76 provides that frozen and deep-frozen fowl can be marketed within the Community only if the water absorption during preparation does not exceed 7.4 per cent on average as determined by the chemical (Danish) method set out in Annex III of the Regulation or 6 per cent on average as determined by the chemical (German) method described in Annex IV. At present, each Member State has a choice as to the method it uses. Despite intense testing and experimentation by a group of experts, it has not been possible to correlate the two testing methods. The majority of Member States feel that the Danish method is the much more reliable. Accordingly, the Commission is proposing that the Annex IV (German) method should be deleted.

Views of the Joint Committee

3. The Joint Committee understands that Ireland and the U.K.—our main trading partner for poultry meat—have already opted to use the Annex III (Danish) method and accordingly it has no objection to the Commission’s proposal. The Committee is advised that the water absorption limits specified in Annexes III and IV of Regulation 2967/76 should not create any serious difficulties in Ireland where the water content of fowl is normally about 5 per cent.

Acknowledgement

4. The Joint Committee wishes to express its thanks to the Irish Farmers’ Association for the assistance it gave in its consideration of the proposal.

(Signed) MARK CLINTON,

Chairman of the Joint Committee.

7th March, 1979.