4.—(1) It is an offence for the occupier to use a slaughterhouse to slaughter for human consumption a bovine animal aged over 30 months unless the Secretary of State has approved the Required Method of Operation (“RMOP”) for that slaughterhouse and that occupier.
(2) The RMOP must, as a minimum—
(a)describe the procedures that will be followed to comply with Part I of this Schedule; and
(b)describe all the systems and procedures specified in Part II of the Schedule.
(3) The Secretary of State shall approve the RMOP if she is satisfied that all the requirements of the Community TSE Regulation and these Regulations will be complied with, and the occupier must demonstrate this by means of an assessment of two days duration in which animals are slaughtered (using bovine animals under 30 months old unless the slaughterhouse is operating for the purposes of Commission Regulation (EC) No 716/96(1)).
(4) If a bovine animal aged over 30 months is slaughtered for human consumption other than in accordance with the RMOP, the occupier of the slaughterhouse is guilty of an offence.
OJ No L99, 20.4.96, p. 14.