Beef labeling - indication "Bison" no voluntary labelling

The Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture (BMVEL) has confirmed to the VDF (Association of the Meat Industry) that the labeling information "Bison" may be used for the sale of bison meat, without this being considered a voluntary information as part of the beef labelling. The indication "bison" is even obligatory, since according to other legal provisions the animal species from which the meat originates must be indicated. Bison meat, like other beef, belongs to CN code 0201 and 0202 in terms of customs tariffs and must therefore comply with the beef labeling rules of Regulation 1760/2000. Zoologically, the bison (and the European wisent) is a separate animal species. Therefore, the indication "Bison" is not comparable to an indication of the breed (eg Limousin, Angus), which represents a voluntary indication within the meaning of beef labeling and for which a voluntary system according to Art. 16 of Regulation 1760/2000 is to be applied for.

If "bison" were a voluntary indication, this would have meant that imports from Canada, for example, could not have been provided with this information at the moment. The use of voluntary information for beef from third countries presupposes that the third country has received approval from the EC Commission for the use of the relevant information. So far, this has not happened for any third country for the indication bison.

Source: Bonn [vdf]