1. Where the production of beef takes place, in full or in part, in a third country, operators and organisations shall be entitled to label beef according to this section if, in addition to complying with Article 16, they have obtained for their specifications the approval of the competent authority designated for that purpose by each of the third countries concerned.
2. The validity within the Community of an approval granted by a third country shall be subject to prior notification by the third country to the Commission of:
- the competent authority which has been designated,
- the procedures and criteria to be followed by the competent authority when examining the specification,
- each operator and organisation whose specification was accepted by the competent authority.
The Commission shall transmit these notifications to the Member States.
Where, on the basis of the above notifications, the Commission reaches the conclusion that the procedures and/or criteria applied in a third country are not equivalent to the standards set out in this Regulation, the Commission shall, after consultation with the third country concerned, decide that approvals granted by that third country shall not be valid within the Community.