The Deregulation (Slaughterhouses Act 1974 and Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980) Order 1996

PART I INTRODUCTORY

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Deregulation (Slaughterhouses Act 1974 and Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980) Order 1996 and shall come into force on the fourteenth day after the day on which it is made.

PART II SLAUGHTERHOUSES ACT 1974

Repeal of slaughterhouse licensing under section 1

2.—(1) Section 1 of the Slaughterhouses Act 1974 (which requires slaughterhouses and knackers' yards to be licensed) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1) (which penalises the use of premises as a slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard unless the occupier is licensed for the purpose)—

(a) in paragraph (a), the words “slaughterhouse or” and “a slaughterhouse or, as the case may be,” shall be omitted; and

(b) in paragraph (b), the words “slaughterhouse or” shall be omitted.

(3) In subsection (3) (separate licensing of certain premises used for the confinement of animals awaiting slaughter in a slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard) the words “slaughterhouse or” shall be omitted.

Repeal of powers to make byelaws about slaughterhouses

3.—(1) In section 12(1)(a) of the Slaughterhouses Act 1974 (which enables a local authority to make byelaws for securing that slaughterhouses and knackers' yards are kept in a sanitary condition and properly managed) the words “slaughterhouses and” shall be omitted.

(2) In section 16(1) of that Act (powers of local authority in relation to a slaughterhouse provided by it) paragraph (a) (power to make byelaws for securing that the slaughterhouse is kept in a sanitary condition and properly managed) shall cease to have effect.

Repeal of duty to display signs at slaughterhouses and knackers' yards

4.  Section 13 of the Slaughterhouses Act 1974 (duty of occupier of licensed slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard to display sign indicating nature of the premises) shall cease to have effect.

Consequential amendments

5.—(1) In section 4(5) of the Slaughterhouses Act 1974 (power of local authority to require information about past or present licences under section 1 of the Act on an application for a knacker’s yard licence)—

(a) after “other licence” there shall be inserted “which he has held”;

(b) for “knacker’s yard which he holds or has held” there shall be substituted “which he holds or has held in respect of a knacker’s yard”; and

(c) after “another local authority” there shall be inserted “, or as to any slaughterhouse licence which he holds or has held”.

(2) After section 4(5) of that Act there shall be inserted—

“(6) In subsection (5) above, “slaughterhouse licence” means a licence issued under regulations made by virtue of section 19(1)(b) of the Food Safety Act 1990(1) for the use of any premises as a slaughterhouse.”.

(3) In section 14 of that Act (exception of licensed slaughterhouses from restrictions in local legislation) the existing provision shall become subsection (1), and after that subsection there shall be inserted—

“(2) In this section, “slaughterhouse licence” means a licence issued under regulations made by virtue of section 19(1)(b) of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the use of any premises as a slaughterhouse”.

(4) In section 15(5) of the Act, for “sections 1 to 14” there shall be substituted “section 14”.

PART III SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS (SCOTLAND) ACT 1980

Repeal of slaughterhouse registration under section 4

6.  Section 4 of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 (requirement for registration in respect of private slaughterhouses) shall cease to have effect.

Repeal of powers to make byelaws about slaughterhouses

7.  Section 8 of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 (which enables a local authority to make byelaws for securing that slaughterhouses are kept in a clean and sanitary condition and properly managed) shall cease to have effect.

Amendment of definition of “slaughterhouse”

8.  In section 22 of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 (interpretation), in the definition of “slaughterhouse”, after “intended” there shall be inserted the words “for sale”.

Consequential amendments

9.—(1) In section 1 of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 (provision of public slaughterhouses), for “sections 3 and 8” there shall be substituted “section 3”.

(2) In section 2(1) of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 (acquisition of land for purposes relating to slaughterhouses), for “, 3, 4, 5 or 8” there shall be substituted “or 3”.

(3) In section 14 of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 (powers of entry)—

(a) in subsection (1), the words “Subject to section 13(4) of this Act,” shall be omitted; and

(b) after subsection (4) there shall be added—

“(5) Nothing in this section shall authorise any person, except with the permission of the local authority under the Animal Health Act 1981(2), to enter any premises which for the time being are, or are comprised in, an infected place within the meaning of that Act.”.

(4) In section 19A of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 (codes of practice) in each of subsections (1)(a)(i) and (7)(a), for “any of sections 9, 13” there shall be substituted “sections 9”.

(5) In section 35(4)(c) of the Food Safety Act 1990 (punishment of offences) for the words “that Act” there shall be substituted “the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980”.

PART IV MISCELLANEOUS

Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995

10.—(1) In regulation 4(2)(a)(i) of the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995(3), after the word “consumption” there shall be inserted the words “and he is satisfied that the requirements of Parts I and II of Schedule 2 to the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995(4) are, or within a reasonable time will be, complied with”.

(2) In regulation 5(1)(b) of the said Regulations, after the word “future” there shall be inserted “or, where those premises are a slaughterhouse, any requirement of Parts I and II of Schedule 2 to the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 has not been complied with and will not within a reasonable time have been complied with”.

Repeals

11.  The enactments mentioned in the Schedule to this Order are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

Angela Browning

Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

21st August 1996

Lindsay

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Scottish Office

12th August 1996

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Wales

Jonathan Evans

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Welsh Office

28th August 1996