Scottish wholesalers warn categorisation means more severe pressure on margins Abattoir operators and meat packers are stepping up their campaign against the proposed EU beef labelling scheme, which some slaughterers claim could in effect add 10% to the cost of live cattle. Main focus of opposition is the requirement for beef to be categorised according to the type of animal. Meat from steers, heifers and young bulls would have to be differentiated throughout the supply chain to point of sale. This proposal provoked outrage among processors gathered at the British Meat Federation conference last month, with initial estimates of the additional cost at around £20 per beast (The Grocer, May 27, p22). Now the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers is suggesting the burden could be much heavier, perhaps £50 per head. This new warning emerged on Tuesday, while MLC and National Beef Association representatives were in Brussels trying to persuade European Commission officials to abandon the proposal. "The extra cost could be about £10 per beast if a plant operator calculated the expense of extra staff and chilling space," a spokesmen for the SAMW told The Grocer. However, in practice there were likely to be contraints on labour and space, forcing operators to run plants at lower throughputs. The result would be a headage cost several times higher. This new charge threatens political embarrassment for the government, partly because MAFF is accused of having failed to recognise the significance of the proposal when the European Parliament considered the scheme. And the extra cost would add to the burden of Meat Hygiene Service charges and other anti-BSE expenses, which the Government has made some moves towards easing. {{MEAT }}

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