Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

ANNEX V U.K. SPECIFIED RISK MATERIAL

1. The following tissues shall be designated as specified risk material depending on the category of the Member State or third country of origin or residence of the animal, determined in accordance with Article 5: U.K.

• CATEGORIES 1 AND 2 U.K.

  None.

• CATEGORIES 3 AND 4 U.K.

  (a)

  the skull including the brain and eyes, the tonsils and the spinal cord of bovine animals aged over 12 months, and the intestines from the duodenum to the rectum of bovine animals of all ages;

  (b)

  the skull including the brain and eyes, the tonsils and the spinal cord of ovine and caprine animals aged over 12 months or which have a permanent incisor erupted through the gum, and the spleen of ovine and caprine animals of all ages.

• CATEGORY 5 U.K.

  (a)

  the entire head (excluding the tongue), including the brain, eyes, trigeminal ganglia and tonsils; the thymus; the spleen and the spinal cord of bovine animals aged over six months, and the intestines from the duodenum to the rectum of animals of all ages;

  (b)

  the vertebral column, including dorsal root ganglia, of bovine animals aged over 30 months;

  (c)

  the skull including the brain and eyes, the tonsils, the spinal cord of ovine and caprine animals aged over 12 months or which have a permanent incisor erupted through the gum, and the spleen of ovine and caprine animals of all ages.

2. Specified risk material must be removed at: U.K.

(a)

slaughterhouses;

(b)

cutting plants, high-risk processing plants or premises referred to in Articles 3 and 7 of Directive 90/667/EEC(1), under the supervision of a designated agent appointed by the competent authority. Those establishments shall be approved for that purpose by the competent authority.

However, the vertebral column may be removed at points of sale to the consumer situated in the territory of the Member State concerned.

Where specified risk material is not removed from dead animals which have not been slaughtered for human consumption, the parts of the body containing specified risk material or the entire body will be treated as specified risk material.

3. All specified risk material must be stained with a dye and, as appropriate, marked with a marker immediately on removal, and completely destroyed: U.K.

(a)

by incineration without pre-processing; or,

(b)

provided that the dye or marker remains detectable, after pre-processing:

(i)

in accordance with the systems described in Chapters I to IV, VI and VII of the Annex to Decision 92/562/EEC(2):

• by incineration;

• by co-incineration;

(ii)

in accordance with at least the standards referred to in Annex I to Decision 1999/534/EC(3), by burial in an approved landfill site.

4. Member States may derogate from the provisions of points 2 and 3 to allow the incineration or burial of specified risk material or entire bodies, without prior staining, or, as appropriate, removal of the specified risk materials, in the circumstances set out in Article 3(2) of Directive 90/667/EEC and by a method which precludes all risk of transmission of a TSE and is authorised and supervised by the competent authority, in particular where animals have died or have been killed in the context of disease control measures and without prejudice to Articles 12 and 13. U.K.

5. The use of an alternative test to the removal of specified risk material may be authorised under the following conditions: U.K.

(a)

tests must be carried out in slaughterhouses on all animals eligible for the removal of specified risk material;

(b)

no bovine, ovine or caprine product intended for human food or animal feed may leave the slaughterhouse before the competent authority has received and accepted the results of the tests on all slaughtered animals potentially contaminated if BSE has been confirmed in one of them;

(c)

when an alternative test gives a positive result, all bovine, ovine and caprine material which has been potentially contaminated in the slaughterhouse is destroyed in accordance with point 3, unless all parts of the body including the hide of the affected animal can be identified and kept separate.

6. Member States are to carry out frequent official inspections to verify the correct application of this Annex and ensure that measures are taken to avoid contamination, particularly in slaughterhouses, cutting plants, animal waste processing plants, high risk processing plants or premises authorised by the Member States in accordance with Article 7 of Directive 90/667/EEC, points of sale to the consumer, landfill sites and other facilities for storage or incineration. U.K.

7. Member States shall in particular set up a system to ensure and check that: U.K.

(a)

specified risk material used in the production of products referred to in Article 1(2) are used solely for the authorised purpose;

(b)

where bovine, ovine or caprine animals enter a Member State placed in a numerically lower category, indicating a better BSE status, than that of the animals that enter, those animals remain under official supervision until slaughter or dispatch from its territory;

(c)

specified risk material, in particular where disposal takes place at establishments or premises other than slaughterhouses, is completely separated from other waste not destined for incineration, is collected separately and is disposed of in accordance with points 2, 3 and 4. Member States may allow dispatch of heads or carcasses containing specified risk material to another Member State after agreement with that other Member State both to receive the material and to apply the specific conditions applicable to such movements.

8. Member States may send specified risk material or the material processed therefrom to other Member States for incineration only under the conditions laid down in Article 4(2) of Decision 97/735/EC(4), where applicable. U.K.

These points may be amended at the request of a Member State to allow the dispatch of specified risk material or the material processed therefrom to third countries for incineration. The conditions governing export shall be adopted at the same time, by the same procedure.

(1)

Council Directive 90/667/EEC of 27 November 1990 laying down the veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste, for its placing on the market and for the prevention of pathogens in feedstuffs of animal or fish origin and amending Directive 90/425/EEC (OJ L 363, 27.12.1990, p. 51). Directive as last amended by the 1994 Act of Accession.

(2)

Commission Decision 92/562/EEC of 17 November 1992 on the approval of alternative heat treatment systems for processing high-risk material (OJ L 359, 9.12.1992, p. 23). Decision as amended by the 1994 Act of Accession.

(3)

Council Decision 1999/534/EC of 19 July 1999 on measures applying to the processing of certain animal waste to protect against transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and amending Commission Decision 97/735/EC (OJ L 204, 4.8.1999, p. 37).

(4)

Commission Decision 97/735/EC of 21 October 1997 concerning certain protection measures with regard to trade in certain types of mammalian animal waste (OJ L 294, 28.10.1997, p. 7). Decision as amended by Council Decision 1999/534/EC (OJ L 204, 4.8.1999, p. 37).