The country of origin of the fresh, chilled or frozen meat used as an ingredient in a meal must be indicated to the consumer in writing. This is provided for in Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Decree 154/2019 which entered into force on 1 May 2019. The validity of the Decree has been extended until 30 April 2025. (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Decree 197/2023 amends Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Decree 834/2014 . In addition, the name of the food in writing and the substances and products causing allergies and intolerances which, under certain conditions, may be notified verbally must be indicated to the consumer at serving points.
Serving points include restaurants, cafés, institutional canteens and hot dog and burger stands.
The types of meat to which the Regulation applies are beef, meat of swine, , sheep, goat and poultry. Indication of the country of origin also applies to minced meat. Minced meat means boned meat that has been minced into fragments and contains less than 1% salt.
No quantitative criterion has been laid down for meat. The country of origin of the meat used as an ingredient in the meal must be indicated, even if there is little meat in the food. The provisions applying to serving points also apply where meals prepared in the central kitchen are delivered to the serving points for serving.
The Regulation does not apply to horse meat, game meat, meat preparations or meat products
Other than those mentioned above in EU legislation, there are no harmonised origin labelling requirements for prepacked types of meat. The requirements of the Regulation therefore do not apply, for example, to horse meat, reindeer meat or game meat, such as elk meat.
Nor does the Regulation apply to meat or meat products used as meal ingredients. For example, if ready-made, cooked beef-and-pig meat mince patties (=meat product) or marinated chicken breast fillets (=meat preparation) are supplied to a restaurant to be made into food, there is no need to indicate the country of origin of the meat to the consumer.
On the other hand, if fresh chicken breast fillets are marinated in the restaurant where they are cooked, the country of origin of the meat must be indicated. The Finnish Food Authority points out that the country of origin of meat may always be notified voluntarily to the consumer in writing.
Country of origin of meat means the country in which the rearing of the animal took place
The country of origin of the meat means the country in which the rearing of the animal from which the meat was derived took place. The country in which the rearing of the beef took place is defined as provided in Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000. The country in which the rearing of the meat of swine, sheep, goat and poultry took place is defined as provided in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1337/2013.
Indication of the country of origin of meat used as a meal ingredient
The country of origin of the meat used as an ingredient in the meal must be indicated at the serving point as 'country of origin: (name of an EU country or non-EU country)' or any other term of equivalent content. If the serving places contain a voluntary Hyvää Suomesta (Produced in Finland) label on the country of origin of the meat used as an ingredient in the meal, then the information referred to in Decree 154/2019 on the country of origin of the meat is fulfilled.
If the country of origin of the meat used as the ingredient of the meal is not available to the nearest country of origin, the indication of the country of origin is replaced by “several EU countries” (or “EU”), “several non-EU countries” or “several EU and non-EU countries”.
Examples:
- broiler breast fillet (country of origin Finland) or broiler breast fillet (Finland)
- broiler breast fillet (non-EU) and broiler breast fillet (EU) if the country of origin of the broiler is not available to the nearest country.
The country of origin of meat is to be provided in writing before making the decision to buy
Information on the country of origin of fresh, chilled and frozen meat used as an ingredient in a meal must be provided in writing at the serving point. This information can be provided, for example, in a menu or brochure or on a board or electronically, for example on a computer. In an online store, the consumer must be provided with the same information as at a serving point. The information does not need to be provided to each customer separately, but it must be available before making the decision to buy.
Information on the country of origin of fresh, chilled or frozen meat used as an ingredient in a meal is not required in writing where
- food is supplied or meals are served in a specific way to the consumer, for example in hospitals, prisons and care for the elderly.
- pre-ordered and agreed food made by a caterer is served at the venue, for example at weddings or funerals.
- food is supplied in connection with the activities referred to in Section 10(2) of the Food Act (297/2021)(in Finnish), such as example during a restaurant day, for example.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has prepared a comprehensive memorandum on (paragraph 61) on Decree 154/2019 which has been used as a source for this text.