The Act provides that the meat of bovine animals shall be identified and registered. The labelling shall indicate the reference number of the animal, the number of the slaughterhouse, the number of the laboratory where the animal was sliced. Therefore a compulsory labelling system shall ensure a link between, on the one hand, the identification of the carcass, quarter or pieces of meat and, on the other hand, the individual animal. In addition, from January 2002, the labelling shall indicate the