Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/624Show full title

Article 7 U.K. Criteria and conditions for the performance of post-mortem inspections under the responsibility of the official veterinarian, referred to in Article 18(2)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625

(1) Post-mortem inspections referred to in Article 18(2)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 may be performed by an official auxiliary under the responsibility of the official veterinarian, subject to compliance with Chapter II of Annex II to this Regulation, when the following criteria and conditions are met:

(a) the slaughter or game-handling activities are carried out in a low-capacity slaughterhouse or game-handling establishment which slaughters or handles:

(i)

less than 1 000 livestock units per year; or

(ii)

less than 150 000 poultry, lagomorphs and small wild game per year;

(b) the competent authority may increase the thresholds laid down in point (a) ensuring that the derogation is applied in the smallest slaughterhouses and game handling establishments complying with the definition of low-capacity slaughterhouse or game-handling establishment and provided that the combined annual production of these establishments does not exceed 5 % of the total amount of fresh meat produced in [F1 Great Britain]:

(i)

for the species concerned;

(ii)

of all ungulates together;

(iii)

of all poultry together; or,

(iv)

of all birds and lagomorphs together;

F2 ...

(c) the establishment concerned has sufficient facilities to store meat with abnormalities separately from other meat until the official veterinarian can inspect the meat with abnormalities in person;

(d) the official veterinarian is present in the establishment at least once a day, including regularly during slaughter activities;

(e) the competent authority has put in place a procedure to assess on a regular basis the performance of official auxiliaries in these establishments, including:

(i)

monitoring individual performance;

(ii)

verifying documentation on inspection findings and comparing it with the corresponding carcasses;

(iii)

checks of carcasses in the storage room;

(f) a risk analysis has been carried out by the competent authority, taking at least account of the following elements:

(i)

the number of animals slaughtered or handled per hour or per day;

(ii)

the species and class of animals slaughtered or handled;

(iii)

the throughput of the establishment;

(iv)

the historical performance of slaughter or handling activities;

(v)

the effectiveness of any additional measures in the food chain taken to guarantee the food safety of animals intended for slaughter;

(vi)

the effectiveness of the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP)-based procedures;

(vii)

audit records;

(viii)

the competent authority's historical records of ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections.

(2) For the purpose of point (a) (i) of paragraph 1, the conversion rates laid down in Article 17(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 shall be used. However in case of ovine and caprine animals and small (< 100 kg life weight) Cervidae a conversion rate of 0,05 livestock units, and in case of other large game a conversion rate of 0,2 livestock units shall be used.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in Art. 7(1)(b) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1631), regs. 1(2), 13(7)(a) (with regs. 33-36)

F2 Words in Art. 7(1)(b) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1631), regs. 1(2), 13(7)(b) (with regs. 33-36)