The Slaughter of Poultry (Humane Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 1990

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Slaughter of Poultry (Humane Conditions) Regulations 1984. The changes of substance made to the 1984 Regulations are the inclusion of—

(1) a requirement that the occupier or person in charge of any premises at which birds are offered or exposed for sale prior to being slaughtered there shall ensure that, on arrival at the premises, the birds are placed in accommodation in which they are able to stand upright, turn round and stretch their wings and are provided with a sufficient supply of wholesome food and clean drinking water (regulation 2 (c));

(2) a provision extending the requirements in the 1984 Regulations relating to the maximum periods during which birds may be suspended before being slaughtered or stunned so that they now apply to guinea-fowl, ducks, geese and quails kept in captivity as well as to turkeys and domestic fowls so kept (regulation 2(d));

(3) a provision extending the prohibition in the 1984 Regulations on the immersion in a scalding tank or the plucking of birds before minimum periods have elapsed following the severance of one or more of the major blood vessels of the neck so that it now applies to guinea-fowl, ducks, geese and quails kept in captivity as well as to turkeys and domestic fowl so kept (regulation 2 (d)); and

(4) a requirement that any person who slaughters birds by the Jewish or Muslim method shall ensure that each bird is slaughtered by the severance, by rapid, uninterrupted movements of a knife, of its carotid arteries and that the knife to be used for slaughtering the birds is undamaged and of sufficient size and sharpness so as to enable each bird to slaughtered in such a manner (regulation 2(e)).