18. 5. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION - of 21 April 1993 concerning ‘the content of the code to be used on bovine ear marks (93/317/BEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Directive 92/102/EEC of 27 November 1992 on the identification and registration of animals (!), and in particular Article § (2) (a) thereof, Whereas this code must provide for each bovine animal to be identified individually and for its Member State and holding of origin to be identified ; whereas a two-letter code should be used to identify each Member State ; Whereas the holding of origin may be identifed by a number or a series of numbers unique to each holding; whereas each competent authority must choose the numbering system for holdings under its control ; whereas the code must be completed by numbers or letters identi- fying the individual animal; Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Veterinary Commmnittee, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION : Article 1 1. The code on a bovine ear mark shall start with the letters identifying the Member State of origin in accor- dance with the following table : / () OJ No L 355, 5. 12. 1992, p. 32. No L 122/45 Belgium , BE Denmark DK France FR Germany DE Greece EL Ireland » IE Italy » , IT Luxembouirg LU Netherlands NL Portugal ‘ PT Spain ES United Kingdom .. UK 2.  The code shall be completed by a series of numbres and/or letters which make it possible to identify each - animal individually along with the holding on which it was born. Article 2 This Decision is addressed to the Member States. Done at Brussels, 21 April 1993. For the Commission René STEICHEN Member of the Commission