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1.Carcasses of domestic swine shall be sampled in slaughterhouses as part of the post-mortem examination as follows:
(a)all carcasses of breeding sows and boars or at least 10 % of carcasses of animals sent in for slaughter each year from each holding that is officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions, shall be examined for Trichinella;
(b)all carcasses from holdings that are not officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions shall be systematically examined for Trichinella.
A sample shall be collected from each carcass and the sample shall be examined for Trichinella, in a laboratory designated by the competent authority, using one of the following methods of detection:
(a)the reference method of detection set out in Chapter I of Annex I; or
(b)an equivalent method of detection set out in Chapter II of Annex I.
2.Carcasses of horses, wild boar and other farmed and wild animal species susceptible to Trichinella infestation shall be systematically sampled in slaughterhouses or game-handling establishments as part of the post-mortem examination.
A sample shall be collected from each carcass and the sample shall be examined in accordance with Annexes I and III in a laboratory designated by the competent authority.
3.Pending the results of the Trichinella examination and provided full traceability is guaranteed by the food business operator, carcasses of domestic swine and of horses may be cut up into a maximum of six parts in a slaughterhouse or in a cutting plant on the same premises.
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph and following approval by the competent authority, such carcasses may be cut up at a cutting plant attached to or separate from the slaughterhouse provided that:
(a)the procedure is under supervision by the competent authority;
(b)a carcass or the parts thereof have not more than one cutting plant as its destination;
(c)the cutting plant is situated within the territory of the Member State; and
(d)in the case of a positive result all the parts are declared unfit for human consumption.
1.By way of derogation from Article 2(1), meat of domestic swine that has undergone a freezing treatment in accordance with Annex II under the supervision of the competent authority shall be exempt from Trichinella examination.
2.By way of derogation from Article 2(1), carcasses and meat of not weaned domestic swine less than five weeks of age shall be exempt from Trichinella examination.
3.By way of derogation from Article 2(1), carcasses and meat of domestic swine may be exempt from Trichinella examination where the animals come from a holding or a compartment officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions in accordance with Annex IV, if:
(a)no autochthonous Trichinella infestations in domestic swine kept in holdings officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions have been detected in the Member State in the past three years, during which time continuous testing has been conducted in accordance with Article 2; or
(b)historical data on continuous testing carried out on slaughtered swine population provide at least 95 % confidence that the prevalence of Trichinella does not exceed one per million in that population; or
(c)the holdings applying controlled housing conditions are located in Belgium or Denmark.
4.Where a Member State implements the derogation provided for in paragraph 3, the Member State concerned shall inform the Commission and the other Member States at the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed and submit an annual report to the Commission containing the information referred to in Chapter II of Annex IV. The Commission shall publish the list of Member States implementing the derogation on its website.
Where a Member State fails to submit that annual report or the annual report is unsatisfactory for the purposes of this Article, the derogation shall cease to apply to that Member State.
1.Carcasses as referred to in Article 2 or parts thereof, except for those referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 2(3), may not leave the premises, before the result of the Trichinella examination is found to be negative.
Similarly, other parts of an animal intended for human or animal consumption which contain striated muscle tissue may not leave the premises before the result of the Trichinella examination is found to be negative.
2.Animal waste and animal by-products not intended for human consumption and not containing striated muscle may leave the premises before the results of the Trichinella examination are available.
However, the competent authority may require a Trichinella examination or prior treatment of animal by-products to be carried out before permitting them to leave the premises.
3.Where a procedure is in place in the slaughterhouse to ensure that no part of carcasses examined leaves the premises until the result of the Trichinella examination is found to be negative and the procedure is formally approved by the competent authority or where the derogation provided for in the second subparagraph of Article 2(3) applies, the health mark provided for in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 may be applied before the results of the Trichinella examination are available.
The competent authority shall ensure that all personnel involved in the examination of samples to detect Trichinella shall be properly trained and participate in:
a quality control programme of the tests used to detect Trichinella; and
a regular assessment of the testing, recording and analysis procedures used in the laboratory.
1.The methods of detection set out in Chapters I and II of Annex I shall be used for examining samples as referred to in Article 2 where they provide grounds for suspecting Trichinella infestation.
2.All positive samples shall be forwarded to the national reference laboratory or the EU reference laboratory for determination of the Trichinella species involved.
The competent authorities of the Member States shall provide for a contingency plan outlining all action to be taken where samples as referred to in Article 2 test positive for Trichinella. That plan shall include details covering:
traceability of infested carcasses and parts thereof containing muscle tissue;
measures for dealing with infested carcasses and parts thereof;
investigation of the source of infestation and any spread among wildlife;
any measures to be taken at the retail or consumer level;
measures to be taken where infested carcasses cannot be identified at the slaughterhouse;
determination of the Trichinella species involved.
1.For the purposes of this Regulation, the competent authority may officially recognise a holding or a compartment applying controlled housing conditions where the requirements laid down in Annex IV are complied with.
2.Holdings or a compartment applying controlled housing conditions in Belgium or Denmark, in accordance with Article 3(3)(c), on 1 June 2014 shall be considered to be officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions as listed in Annex IV.
Food business operators of holdings officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions shall inform the competent authority of any requirement as laid down in Annex IV that is no longer fulfilled or of any other change that might affect the Trichinella status of those holdings.
The competent authority shall ensure that audits are carried out periodically of holdings officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions.
The frequency of the audits shall be risk-based, taking account of the disease history and the prevalence, previous findings, the geographical area, local susceptible wildlife, animal husbandry practices, veterinary supervision and farmers' compliance.
The competent authority shall verify that domestic swine coming from those holdings are examined in accordance with Article 2(1).
The competent authority may implement a monitoring programme covering the population of domestic swine coming from a holding or a compartment officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions, in order to verify that Trichinella is actually absent in that population.
The frequency of testing, the number of animals to be tested and the sampling plan shall be laid down in the monitoring programme. To that end, meat samples shall be collected and examined for the presence of Trichinella parasites in accordance with Chapter I or II of Annex I.
The monitoring programme may include serological methods as an additional tool once a suitable test is validated by the EU reference laboratory.
1.Where the results of the audits carried out in accordance with Article 10 show that the requirements of Annex IV are no longer fulfilled, the competent authority shall withdraw the holding's official recognition without delay.
2.Where domestic swine from a holding officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions test positive to Trichinella, the competent authority shall without delay:
(a)withdraw the holding's official recognition;
(b)examine all domestic swine of that holding at the time of slaughter;
(c)trace and test all breeding animals that arrived on the holding and, as far as possible, all those that left the holding in at least the six months preceding the positive finding; to that end, meat samples shall be collected and examined for presence of Trichinella parasites using the detection methods laid down in Chapters I and II of Annex I;
(d)when relevant, as far as is feasible, investigate the spread of parasite infestation due to the distribution of meat from domestic swine slaughtered in the period preceding the positive finding;
(e)inform the Commission and the other Member States;
(f)when relevant, initiate an epidemiological investigation to elucidate the cause of infestation;
(g)take appropriate measures where any infested carcass cannot be identified at the slaughterhouse, including:
increasing the size of each meat sample collected for testing of the suspect carcasses; or
declaring the carcasses unfit for human consumption;
taking appropriate measures for the disposal of suspect carcasses or parts thereof and those testing positive.
3.Following withdrawal of the recognition, holdings may be officially recognised again once the problems identified have been solved and the requirements laid down in Annex IV are fulfilled to the satisfaction of the competent authority.
4.If the inspection identified a lack of compliance with Article 9 or positive testing in a holding of a compartment, the holding concerned shall be removed from the compartment until compliance is re-established.