23.—(1) After the imposition of the controls following notification of suspicion of swine vesicular disease in a slaughterhouse a veterinary inspector must go to the slaughterhouse immediately and examine the pigs or carcases.
(2) If the veterinary inspector is satisfied that swine vesicular disease does not exist in the slaughterhouse the veterinary inspector must confirm this (orally or otherwise) at which point the controls in regulation 22 cease to have effect.
(3) A veterinary inspector who suspects that swine vesicular disease exists in the slaughterhouse must serve a notice on the occupier requiring that all live suspect pigs, live pigs from the same premises as the suspect pig and any pigs they have had contact with are slaughtered separately from other pigs, and the carcases stored separately from carcases of other pigs, and failure to comply with the notice is an offence.
(4) The veterinary inspector must take samples (the samples may be from pigs and carcases at the slaughterhouse and samples from the premises of origin of the suspect pig) and test them to establish whether or not swine vesicular disease is present in the slaughterhouse.
(5) If the test results are negative the veterinary inspector must confirm this in writing and the controls in regulation 22 cease to have effect.
(6) A veterinary inspector may remove the restriction in 22(3)(a) at any time if the slaughterhouse has been cleansed and disinfected in accordance with the written instructions of a veterinary inspector.
(7) If the test results demonstrate the existence of swine vesicular disease virus in the slaughterhouse (whether or not there is evidence of swine vesicular disease on the premises that the pigs have come from)—
(a)the Secretary of State must seize and dispose of the isolated carcases, and
(b)the occupier must ensure that the parts of the slaughterhouse used to store the carcases of pigs slaughtered under this regulation are not used until the occupier has cleansed and disinfected them to the satisfaction of the veterinary inspector, and failure to comply with this provision is an offence.