Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Assembly centres and slaughterhouses

12.—(1) Any person operating an assembly centre shall do so in accordance with this regulation.

(2) The assembly centre shall be approved by the Department and given a number, and approval shall only be given if the Department is satisfied that –

(a) the centre complies with the requirements of paragraphs (a) to (d) of Article 11(1) of Council Directive 64/432/EEC;

(b) in the case of an assembly centre used for sheep or goats, the centre complies with the requirements of paragraphs (a) to (d) of Article 8a(1) of Directive 91/68/EEC; and

(c) the operator of the assembly centre has agreed to comply with the requirements for the operation of the centre which the Department has specified in an operational agreement as being the requirements the inspector believes are necessary to ensure the centre is capable of being operated in accordance with the second indent of Article 3(2) of Council Directive 90/425/EEC.

(3) The operator of an assembly centre shall admit to those premises only animals that are identified and come from herds or flocks that are eligible for intra-Community trade.

(4) Where animals are consigned to an approved assembly centre, the operator of the assembly centre shall –

(a) ensure that no animal is admitted unless it complies with Article 3(1) of Council Directive 90/425/EEC; and

(b) record on a register –

(i) the name of the owner, the origin, date of entry and exit, number of the animals, and their proposed destination;

(ii) the registration number of the transporter and the licence number of the vehicle delivering or collecting animals from the centre;

(iii) in the case of cattle, the identification of the animals or the registration number of the holding of origin as well as the information in paragraphs (i) and (ii);

(iv) in the case of pigs, the registration number of the holding of origin or of the herd of origin as well as the information in paragraphs (i) and (ii); and

(v) in the case of sheep or goats, the identification of the animals, or the registration number of the holding of origin of the animals, and, where applicable, the approval or registration number of any assembly centre through which the animals have passed prior to entering the centre as well as the information in paragraphs (i) and (ii),

and shall preserve the register for a minimum of three years from the date of arrival at the centre of any animal to which it relates.

(5) Where an animal is consigned to a slaughterhouse under the supervision of an official veterinary surgeon appointed under the provisions of regulation 7 of the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(1) or regulation 7 of the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995(2), the official veterinary surgeon shall ensure that it is not slaughtered unless it complies with Article 3(1) of Council Directive 90/425/EEC.

(6) An official veterinary surgeon may carry out an inspection for the purposes of paragraph (5) and, if in so doing, he establishes that an animal imported from a member State is accompanied by incorrect documentation or cannot readily be identified, he shall examine the animal and shall either –

(a) certify that it is fit to be slaughtered and used for its intended purpose; or

(b) by notice in writing require the animal to be slaughtered and destroyed or to be re-exported, in each case at the expense of the importer.

(7) Where any person markets any animal consigned to him from a member State, or divides up batches of such animals for distribution or marketing, and paragraphs (4) and (5) do not apply in relation to such animals, that person –

(a) shall check, before any animal is marketed or any batch is divided up, that all the animals comply with the relevant provisions of an instrument listed in Part I of Schedule 2, with respect to identification marks and required consignment documentation;

(b) shall immediately notify any irregularity or anomaly in any such identification mark or required consignment documentation to the Department; and

(c) if there is a breach of Article 3(1)(d) of Council Directive 90/425/EEC(3), shall isolate the animals in question until the Department has either –

(i) authorised their release in writing; or

(ii) served a notice under regulation 13(2) in relation to it.

(1)

S.R. 1997 No. 493, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations

(2)

S.R. 1995 No. 396, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations

(3)

O.J. No. L224, 18.8.90, p. 29 as amended by and as read with the provisions listed in Schedule 1