Animal By-Products Order (Northern Ireland) 2002

Articles 17, 18 and 19

SCHEDULE 4 Requirements for knackers' yards

General requirements

1.  The approved premises must be adequately separated from the public highway and other premises such as slaughterhouses.

2.  Preventive measures against birds, rodents, insects and other vermin shall be taken systematically.

3.  Floors must be impervious, capable of being cleansed and disinfected and laid so that liquids drain into a waste-water disposal system and cannot seep from the unclean area to the clean area.

4.  Adequate lavatories, changing rooms and washbasins shall be available for staff.

Clean and unclean areas in premises producing feeding stuffs for animals whose flesh is not intended for human consumption

5.—(1) In premises producing feeding stuffs for animals whose flesh is not intended for human consumption there shall be a clean area and an unclean area, adequately separated. The unclean area shall be easy to clean and disinfect. It shall have a covered place (the reception area) to receive and store the untreated animal by-products.

(2) Untreated animal by-products shall be unloaded in the reception area and either—

(a) treated immediately; or

(b) stored in suitable containers in the reception area and treated without undue delay.

(3) Treated animal by-products shall be handled and stored in a clean area in such way as to prevent recontamination. Treated animal by-products shall not be allowed to come into contact with any untreated animal by-products.

Reception and storage facilities in premises not producing feeding stuffs

6.—(1) In premises not producing feeding stuffs for animals whose flesh is not intended for human consumption there shall be a covered place (the reception area) to receive and store the animal by-products. The premises shall be easy to clean and disinfect.

(2) Animal by-products shall be unloaded in the reception area and stored in suitable containers until disposal. They shall be disposed of without undue delay.

Hides

7.  If carcases are de-skinned or de-haired there shall be adequate facilities for doing this, and there shall be a storage room for hides. Hides shall be salted using sodium chloride.

Cleansing and disinfection facilities

8.—(1) There shall be adequate facilities (including a water supply) provided to enable containers and vehicles (including their wheels) to be cleansed and disinfected in accordance with this paragraph.

(2) Containers used for animal by-products shall be cleansed and disinfected after each use.

(3) In premises producing feeding stuffs for animals whose flesh is not intended for human consumption, vehicles (including their wheels) used for the transport of animal by-products shall be cleansed and disinfected before entering the clean area or (if they do not enter the clean area) before they leave the premises.

(4) In premises which do not produce feeding stuffs, vehicles (including their wheels) used for the transport of animal by-products shall be cleansed and disinfected before they leave the premises.

Repair of installations

9.  Installations and equipment shall be kept in a good state of repair and any measuring equipment shall be calibrated at regular intervals. A record shall be kept showing when re-calibration was carried out.

Products of knackers' yards

10.  A product of a knacker’s yard shall be either—

(a) disposed of without delay in accordance with Article 5; or

(b) treated in accordance with paragraph 11 and marketed locally within Northern Ireland for feeding animals whose flesh is not intended for human consumption.

Feeding stuffs

11.—(1) Animal by-products intended for use as feeding stuff for animals whose flesh is not intended for human consumption shall be either—

(a) sterilised by being boiled or steamed under pressure until every piece of meat is cooked throughout, or

(b) denatured by being stained with a solution of the colouring agent Black PN or Brilliant Black BN (E 151, Colour Index 197 No. 28440), the solution being of such a strength that the colouring on the stained meat is clearly visible and applied so that the whole surface of all pieces of meat have been covered with the solution either by immersing the meat in, or spraying or otherwise applying, the solution and, in the case of a piece of meat weighing 25 kilogrammes or more, applying the solution after the surface of the meat has been opened by multiple and deep incisions; or

(c) reduced to a particle size of no more than 50 mm and then heated to a core temperature of more than 133°C at a pressure of at least 3 bar for at least 20 minutes without interruption.

(2) Feeding stuffs shall be packaged before distribution and sale and the packaging shall include the name and address of the knacker’s yard and be clearly and legibly marked “Not for human consumption”.