The Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1994

1. Introductory Text

2. PART I PRELIMINARY

   1. 1. Title and commencement

   2. 2. Interpretation

   3. 3. Exemptions

3. PART II LICENSING OF SLAUGHTERHOUSES, CUTTING PREMISES,COLD STORES AND RE-WRAPPING CENTRES

   1. 4. Issue of licences

   2. 5. Revocation of licences

   3. 6. Appeals Tribunal

   4. 7. Prohibition on the slaughter at a slaughterhouse of a bird or rabbit not intended for sale for human consumption

4. PART III SUPERVISION AND CONTROL OF PREMISES

   1. 8. Supervision of premises

   2. 9. Designation of official veterinary surgeons

   3. 10. Powers of official veterinary surgeons and veterinary officers

   4. 11. Authorisation of plant inspection assistants

   5. 12. Inspection and health marking

   6. 13. Notice of slaughter

5. PART IV CONDITIONS FOR THE MARKETING OF FRESH MEAT

   1. 14. General conditions

   2. 15. Transport documentation

6. PART V SLAUGHTER, PROHIBITIONS AND CONDITIONS

   1. 16. Prohibition and conditions of slaughter

7. PART VI ADMINISTRATION, PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT

   1. 17. Records of inspections

   2. 18. Duties of occupier

   3. 19. Duties of producer

   4. 20. Offences and penalties

   5. 21. Recovery of costs

   6. 22. Information to be provided by the food authorities

   7. 23. Defences in relation to exports

   8. 24. Enforcement

   9. 25. Application of various sections of the Act

   10. 26. Revocations

   11. 27. Amendments

8. Signature

9. 1. SCHEDULE 1

      CONSTRUCTION, LAYOUT AND EQUIPMENT OF SLAUGHTERHOUSES,(EXCEPT LOW THROUGHPUT SLAUGHTERHOUSES), CUTTING PREMISES (EXCEPT LOW THROUGHPUT CUTTING PREMISES), COLDSTORES AND REWRAPPING CENTRES-GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

   2. SCHEDULE 2

      CONSTRUCTION, LAYOUT AND EQUIPMENT OF SLAUGHTERHOUSES,(EXCEPT LOW THROUGHPUT SLAUGHTERHOUSES) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

      1. 1. In addition to the general requirements contained in Schedule 1,...

   3. SCHEDULE 3

      CONSTRUCTION, LAYOUT AND EQUIPMENT OF CUTTING PREMISES (EXCEPT LOW THROUGHPUT CUTTING PREMISES) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

      1. 1. In addition to the general requirements contained in Schedule 1,...

   4. SCHEDULE 4

      CONSTRUCTION, LAYOUT AND EQUIPMENT OF COLD STORES ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

      1. 1. In addition to the general requirements contained in Schedule 1,...

      2. 2. In addition to the general requirements contained in Schedule 1,...

   5. SCHEDULE 5

      CONSTRUCTION, LAYOUT AND EQUIPMENT OF LOW THROUGHPUT SLAUGHTERHOUSES AND LOW THROUGHPUT CUTTING PREMISES

      1. PART I GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

      2. PART II LOW THROUGHPUT SLAUGHTERHOUSES-ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

         1. 11. (a) In addition to the general requirements contained in Part...

   6. SCHEDULE 6

      HYGIENE REQUIREMENTS IN RELATION TO STAFF, PREMISES, EQUIPMENT AND IMPLEMENTS

      1. 1. Requirements applicable to all premises

      2. 2. (a) Staff handling exposed or wrapped fresh meat or working...

      3. 3. Rooms, instruments and working equipment shall not be used for...

      4. 4. Meat and containers thereof shall not come into direct contact...

      5. 5. Potable water shall be used for all purposes; however, non-potable...

      6. 6. Sawdust or any other similar substance shall not be spread...

      7. 7. Detergents, disinfectants and similar substances shall be used in such...

      8. 8. Persons likely to contaminate meat shall not work on or...

      9. 9. On being recruited, any person working on or handling unpackaged...

   7. SCHEDULE 7

      PRE-SLAUGHTER HEALTH INSPECTION

      1. 1. Subject to paragraph 2 below, the official veterinary surgeon shall...

      2. 2. The official veterinary surgeon shall assess the information referred to...

      3. 3. Where the conditions specified in paragraph 1 above are not...

      4. 4. In the case of producers who annually fatten or rear...

      5. 5. The producer shall retain the records referred to in paragraph...

      6. 6. The pre-slaughter health inspection shall be carried out in adequate...

      7. 7. The pre-slaughter health inspection of birds and rabbits on their...

      8. 8. At the slaughterhouse, the official veterinary surgeon shall take all...

      9. 9. In the case of there being any doubt concerning the...

      10. 10. Where any birds or rabbits have not been slaughtered within...

      11. 11. Without prejudice to the requirements of Directive 91/494/EEC, no bird...

      12. 12. The official veterinary surgeon may, at the request of the...

      13. 13. The official veterinary surgeon shall— (a) prohibit slaughter where he...

      14. 14. The official veterinary surgeon shall immediately notify the food authority...

      15. 15. Sick or suspect birds or rabbits shall not be slaughtered...

      16. 16. No rabbit shall be slaughtered for human consumption if it...

      17. 17. Any rabbit referred to in paragraph 15 above shall be...

   8. SCHEDULE 8

      HYGIENE REQUIREMENTS FOR SLAUGHTER AND THE HANDLING OF FRESH MEAT

      1. 1. (a) Only live birds or rabbits may be brought into...

      2. 2. Bleeding shall be completed and carried out in such a...

      3. 3. Slaughtered birds shall be plucked completely before skinning or cutting...

      4. 4. Evisceration shall be carried out immediately in the case of...

      5. 5. After inspection, the viscera which has been removed shall be...

      6. 6. Meat shall not be cleaned by wiping with a cloth...

      7. 7. The carcase shall not be cut into portions and the...

      8. 8. Detained meat, on the one hand, and meat declared unfit...

      9. 9. After inspection and evisceration, fresh meat shall immediately be cleaned...

      10. 10. (a) Carcases of birds to be subjected to an immersion...

      11. 11. The immersion chilling process shall meet the following requirements—

      12. 12. Adequate arrangements shall be made so as to ensure that...

      13. 13. Adequate arrangements shall be made so as to ensure that...

      14. 14. The drawing and trussing, handling, further treatment and transport of...

   9. SCHEDULE 9

      POST-MORTEM HEALTH INSPECTION

      1. PART I GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

         1. 1. The birds and rabbits shall be inspected immediately after slaughter...

         2. 2. In the case of birds, the official veterinary surgeon shall...

         3. 3. In the case of partly eviscerated birds (“effilé”) whose intestines...

         4. 4. In the case of birds subjected to delayed evisceration:

         5. 5. The taking of samples to examine for residues shall be...

         6. 6. The obligation to examine for residues of substances with pharmacological...

         7. 7. Where a disease is suspected on the basis of the...

      2. PART II INDICATIONS OF UNFITNESS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

         1. 1. (a) Birds shall be declared totally unfit for human consumption...

         2. 2. In the case of birds, the head separated from the...

         3. 3. (a) Rabbits shall be declared totally unfit for human consumption...

   10. SCHEDULE 10

       PROVISIONS CONCERNING MEAT INTENDED FOR CUTTING

       1. 1. The carcase shall be cut up into parts and boned...

       2. 2. The occupier shall facilitate operations for the supervision of the...

       3. 3. Meat which does not fulfil the requirements of these Regulations...

       4. 4. Fresh meat intended for cutting shall, as soon as it...

       5. 5. Meat shall be brought into the rooms referred to in...

       6. 6. Except in the case of meat cut while warm in...

       7. 7. Fresh meat shall not be cleaned by wiping with a...

       8. 8. Cutting shall be carried out in such a way so...

   11. SCHEDULE 11

       HEALTH MARKING

       1. 1. Subject to paragraph 4 below, the health mark shall include:...

       2. 2. The health marking may, in addition, include an indication enabling...

       3. 3. The material used for marking shall meet all hygiene requirements...

       4. 4. In the case of fresh meat produced in low throughput...

       5. 5. (a) The health marking referred to in paragraphs 1(a) and...

       6. 6. Subject to paragraph 7 below, in cases where the poultry...

       7. 7. (a) In the event of an outbreak of Newcastle disease,...

       8. 8. The health marking of carcases, parts of carcases or offal...

   12. SCHEDULE 12

       STORAGE

       1. 1. After the chilling provided for in paragraph 9 of Schedule...

       2. 2. Frozen meat shall be kept at a temperature which may...

       3. 3. Unpackaged fresh meat shall be stored separately from packaged fresh...

   13. SCHEDULE 13

       WRAPPING AND PACKAGING OF FRESH MEAT

       1. 1. (a) Packaging (for example packing cases, cardboard boxes) shall fulfil...

       2. 2. (a) Where cut fresh meat or offal is wrapped, that...

       3. 3. Wrapped meat shall be packaged.

       4. 4. However, when wrapping fulfils all the protective conditions of packaging...

       5. 5. Cutting, boning, wrapping and packaging operations shall not take place...

       6. 6. The packaging referred to in this Schedule may contain only...

   14. SCHEDULE 14

       TRANSPORT

       1. 1. In relation to the fresh meat of birds—

       2. 2. Rabbit meat shall be dispatched in such a way that...

   15. SCHEDULE 15

       MEAT HYGIENE APPEALS TRIBUNAL

       1. 1. Each Tribunal shall consist of a Chairman or a Deputy...

       2. 2. (1) The Chairman or Deputy Chairman shall be an independent...

       3. 3. Each Tribunal may be serviced by a Secretary and such...

       4. 4. The terms of appointment and the remuneration of the members,...

   16. SCHEDULE 16

       QUALIFICATIONS OF INSPECTORS

       1. 1. Registered Medical Practitioner.

       2. 2. Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

       3. 3. The holder of any of the qualifications specified in paragraph...

       4. 4. The holder of a valid— (a) Certificate in Poultry Meat...

   17. SCHEDULE 17

       MODEL

   18. SCHEDULE 18

       MODEL

   19. SCHEDULE 19

       MODEL

   20. SCHEDULE 20

       MODEL

   21. SCHEDULE 21

   22. SCHEDULE 22

       INFORMATION TO BE SUPPLIED BY PRODUCER

       1. PART I PRODUCTION REPORT

       2. PART II ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

   23. SCHEDULE 23

       REVOCATIONS

10. Explanatory Note