Statutory Rule 2000 No. 287

Meat (Disease Control) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

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STATUTORY RULES OF NORTHERN IRELAND

2000 No. 287
FOOD
Meat (Disease Control) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

	Made	3rd October 2000
	Coming into operation	6th November 2000

ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

1.	Citation, commencement and interpretation.

2.	Amendments to the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997.

3.	Amendments to the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995.

4.	Amendments to the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997.

5.	Amendments to the Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997.

6.	Consequential amendments.

Whereas it appears to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety[1] that it is necessary or expedient -

to make the following Regulations;

     Now therefore, that Department, in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 15(1), (2) and (3), 16(1), 18(1), 25, 44, 47(2) and 48(2) of, and paragraphs 5, 6(1)(a) and 7(1) and (2) of Schedule 1 to, the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991[2] and of every power enabling it in that behalf, and being a Department designated[3] for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[4] in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the said section 2(2) and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, and after consultation, in accordance with Article 47(3) of the said Order of 1991, with such organisations as appear to it to be representative of interests likely to be substantially affected by the Regulations and having regard, in accordance with Article 47(3A) of the said Order of 1991, to any relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency, hereby makes the following Regulations -

Citation, commencement and interpretation
     1. - (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Meat (Disease Control) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 6th November 2000.

    (2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[5] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Amendments to the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997
     2. The Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997[6] shall be amended as follows -

(g) fresh meat obtained from a slaughterhouse while that slaughterhouse was itself under restriction by virtue of an Order under the Diseases of Animals Order (Northern Ireland) 1981[7] following the confirmation there of foot and mouth disease, swine fever, swine vesicular disease or contagious swine paralysis (Teschen disease);

(h) (without prejudice to sub-paragraph (f)) fresh meat obtained from swine, sheep or goats originating from a holding which at the time of their departure from the holding concerned was subject to a prohibition for health reasons (as provided for by Article 4 of Council Directive 72/461/EEC[8] on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in fresh meat, as amended by amendments up to and including those effected by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC[9]) as a result of an outbreak of porcine, ovine or caprine brucellosis; or

(i) any fresh meat which has not been obtained, cut, stored and transported either separately or at a different time from the meat referred to in any of sub-paragraphs (e) to (h).";

(b) in Schedule 12 (health marking) -

Amendments to the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995
3. The Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995[10] shall be amended as follows -

(b) in regulation 13, after paragraph (3) there shall be inserted the following paragraph -

(b) is obtained from any bird which has come into contact with a bird suffering from avian influenza or Newcastle disease during transport from the holding to the slaughterhouse;

(c) is obtained from a slaughterhouse while that slaughterhouse is under restriction by virtue of an Order under the Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 relating to avian influenza or Newcastle disease; or

(d) is suspected or may reasonably be suspected of having been contaminated by avian influenza or Newcastle disease at the slaughterhouse, cutting premises, cold store or during transportation.

(2) The health mark shall be -

Amendments to the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997
4. The Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997[13] shall be amended as follows -

" "relevant EEA State" means an EEA State other than Iceland;";

" "United Kingdom EC health mark" means the United Kingdom EC health mark described in paragraph 1 of Part VI of Schedule 2;";

unless the meat product has undergone treatment in accordance with paragraph D of Part VIII of Schedule 2.

(3) Any meat product to which paragraph (2) applies shall -

(4) The meat referred to in paragraph (2) shall be stored separately or at a different time from meat which is not referred to in paragraph (2).";

(2) The requirement for a health certificate at paragraph (1)(c) shall not apply to a meat product in a hermetically sealed container where the product has undergone the treatment referred to in paragraph B(a) of Part VIII of Schedule 2 and the health mark is indelibly marked on the container.

(2A) Where a meat product is intended to be sent to a relevant EEA State after transit through a third country it shall be transported in a sealed means of transport.";

(2) After heat treatment, a health mark shall be applied to the container in accordance with the requirements of Part VI.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a meat product to which regulation 8(2) applies and which is prepared from fresh meat obtained from animals which, although they come from an area which is specified in regulation 12(3)(f) of the Fresh Meat Regulations do not come from a holding which is so specified, may, instead of undergoing one of the forms of treatment specified in paragraph (1), undergo -

(c) if the disease in question is foot-and-mouth disease, the treatment referred to in paragraph (b) may be applied to bone-in ham which fulfils the conditions of sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (b).";

(f) in the form of the health certificate specified in Schedule 4 (health certificate for meat products), the text of the first footnote (d) and of footnote (e) shall be replaced by the following -

" Mention any ionising radiation for medical reasons and specify whether treated in accordance with paragraph D(1) or paragraph D(3) of Part VIII of Schedule 2.".

Amendments to the Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997
5. The Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997[14] shall be amended as follows -

" "relevant EEA State" means an EEA State other than Iceland;";

Consequential amendments
6. Schedule 2 (regulations relevant to intra-community trade) to the Products of Animal Origin (Import and Export) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998[15] shall be amended as follows -

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on

3rd October 2000.

L.S.

Don Hill
A senior officer of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations give effect in part to the provisions of the following Council Directives relating to disease control:

Council Directive 72/461/EEC on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in fresh meat (O.J. No. L302, 31.12.72, p. 24 (Special edition 1972 31 Dec (3) p. 3)), which was last amended by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC (O.J. No. L1, 1.1.95, p.1);

Council Directive 91/494/EEC on animal health conditions governing intra-Community trade in and imports from third countries of fresh poultrymeat (O.J. No. L268, 24.9.91, p. 35), which was last amended by Council Directive 93/121/EC (O.J. No. L340, 31.12.93, p. 39);

Council Directive 80/215/EEC on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in meat products (O.J. No. L47, 21.2.80, p. 4), which was last amended by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC (O.J. No. L1, 1.1.95, p. 1);

Council Directive 77/99/EEC on health problems affecting the production and marketing of meat products and certain other products of animal origin (the text of that Directive was replaced by the text annexed to Council Directive 92/5/EEC (O.J. No. L57, 2.3.92, p. 1));

Council Directive 94/65/EC laying down the requirements for the production and placing on the market of minced meat and meat preparations (O.J. No. L368, 31.12.94, p. 10).

The Regulations make the following principal amendments -

     1. Regulation 2 amends the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997. It provides that, where meat is obtained in circumstances where animal health restrictions in connection with certain specified diseases apply, the health mark must be overstamped. Meat which has been overstamped or which has not been produced separately from overstamped meat may not be traded with other EEA States.

     2. Regulation 3 amends the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995. It provides that, where poultry meat is obtained in circumstances where animal health restrictions apply in connection with any disease to which poultry is susceptible - specifically avian influenza and Newcastle disease - the health mark must be overstamped. Meat which has been overstamped or which has not been produced separately from overstamped meat may not be traded with other EEA States. In addition, meat from a bird which has been vaccinated against Newcastle disease within 30 days of slaughter may not be traded with other EEA States.

     3. Regulation 4 amends the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997. It prohibits the use of overstamped meat in meat products which are to be traded with other EEA States, unless the meat products undergo one of the forms of treatment prescribed at regulation 4(e) (which amends Part VIII of Schedule 2 to those Regulations). Such meat products must be prepared under veterinary supervision, must be stored separately from oval health marked meat and must be accompanied by a health certificate which confirms that they have been treated in accordance with the Regulations. All meat products are now required to be accompanied during transportation by commercial documentation, in addition to the requirement for a health certificate in specified circumstances.

     4. Regulation 5 amends the Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997. It restricts the use of overstamped meat in minced meat and meat preparations.

Regulation 6 makes a number of consequential amendments to the Products of Animal Origin (Import and Export) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 (S.R. 1998 No. 45 as already amended).