Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

A. SPECIFIC TASKS CONCERNING THE PRODUCTION OF MEAT FROM POULTRY AND LAGOMORPHS U.K.

The Member States may permit slaughterhouse staff to take over the activities of the official auxiliaries in controlling the production of poultry and rabbit meat under the following conditions:

(a)

[F1 Where the establishment has used good hygiene practice in accordance with Article 4(4) of this Regulation and the HACCP procedure for at least 12 months, the competent authority may authorise staff of the establishment to carry out tasks of official auxiliaries. This authorisation may only be granted if the staff of the establishment have been trained, to the satisfaction of the competent authority, in the same way as the official auxiliaries for the tasks of official auxiliaries or for the specific tasks they are authorised to perform. This staff must be placed under the supervision, direction and responsibility of the official veterinarian. In these circumstances, the official veterinarian shall be present at ante-mortem and post-mortem examinations, shall supervise these activities and carry out regular performance tests to ensure that the performance of the slaughterhouse staff meets the specific criteria laid down by the competent authority, and shall document the results of those performance tests. Where the level of hygiene of the establishment is affected by the work of this staff, where this staff does not carry out the tasks properly or where in general this staff carries out its work in a manner that the competent authority considers unsatisfactory, this staff shall be replaced by official auxiliaries.]

(b)

The competent authority of the Member State shall decide, in principle and on a case-by-case basis, whether to permit the implementation of the system described above. Where the Member State decides in principle in favour of this system, it shall inform the Commission of that decision and its associated conditions. For food business operators in a Member State implementing the system, the actual use of the system is optional. Food business operators shall not be forced by the competent authority to introduce the system described here. Where the competent authority is not convinced that the food business operator satisfies the requirements, the system shall not be implemented in that establishment. In order to assess this, the competent authority shall carry out an analysis of the production and inspection records, the type of activities undertaken in the establishment, the history of compliance with rules, the expertise, professional attitude and sense of responsibility of the slaughterhouse staff in regard to food safety, together with other relevant information.

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1021/2008 of 17 October 2008 amending Annexes I, II and III to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption and Regulation (EC) No 2076/2005 as regards live bivalve molluscs, certain fishery products and staff assisting with official controls in slaughterhouses (Text with EEA relevance).