To calculate the environmental performance of red meat, the European Livestock and Meat Trades Union (UECBV), in cooperation with Australia and New Zealand, has published its harmonised methodology, namely the Red Meat Footprint Category Rules (FCRs), covering beef, lamb and pork.

This peer-reviewed methodology is the first of its kind for the red meat sector, with no other existing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for the value chain.

The main goal of the methodology is to calculate the full environmental footprint of the EU red meat in a stable, robust and science-based way. The Red Meat FCRs aim to improve the environmental performance of the sector and for each of the farming stages. In addition, these rules support the role of manure when assessing the carbon sequestration potential.

The UECBV FCRs will allow for individual companies in the red meat sector to assess and to mitigate the environmental impact of the ‘hot spots' within the supply chain, and to compare environmental performance within the same animal species only.

Now that the Red Meat FCRs have been finalised, the UECBV wishes to further engage with the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) transition phase (Directorate General Environment – European Commission) and with the FAO Livestock Environmental Assessment Performance (LEAP) partnership on road testing of the methodology, and to work with producers across Europe to enable them to improve their environmental performance and mitigate their impact over the coming years.

You can download the Red Meat Footprint Category Rules here:
http://www.uecbv.eu/UECBV/documents/FootprintCategoryRulesRedMeat16661.pdf