Fresh Meat (Beef Controls) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Regulation 4(2) and (3) and (5)

SCHEDULE 1 The Beef Assurance Scheme

Part I Conditions of eligibility

1.  The conditions of eligibility for a herd (in this Part referred to as “the herd”) to be registered under and for the purposes of the Beef Assurance Scheme are set out in paragraphs 2 to 9.

2.  The herd shall be a beef herd.

3.  Any other beef herd kept on the same holding shall be managed as a separate herd, so that none of the following are common to the herds: calving facilities, housing or grazing, or bulls, if used.

4.  A bovine animal shall not have been kept, reared or used for milk production on the same holding as the herd within the seven years prior to the application for registration of the herd.

5.  Any bovine animals born or reared in a dairy herd shall be removed from the herd before it is registered.

6.  There shall have been no confirmed cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy—

(a) in the herd;

(b) in any bovine animal originating from the herd;

(c) in any other herd to which bovine animals in the herd have ever belonged.

7.—(1) The herd shall have been in existence for four years.

(2) The applicant shall produce all records necessary to satisfy the Department on this point.

8.  Over the seven year period prior to the date of the application for registration of the herd, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, no bovine animal in the herd shall have been fed any feed containing meat and bone meal. In order to satisfy himself on this point the applicant shall make all necessary enquiries of suppliers of feed to the holding.

9.  Over the four year period prior to the date of application for registration of the herd, no bovine animal in the herd shall have been fed any compound feed other than—

(a) home mixed feed using no meat and bone meal; or

(b) proprietary feed from a mill which only produced feed for ruminants.

Part II Conditions of continued membership

1.  The conditions of eligibility for a herd (in this Part referred to as “the herd”) to be continued to be registered for the purposes of the Beef Assurance Scheme are set out in paragraphs 2 to 6.

2.  All births, movements and deaths of bovine animals in the herd shall be notified to the Department in accordance with the conditions specified by the Department in writing and issued to the owner of the herd.

3.  Bovine animals may only be added to a registered herd where—

(a) the herd from which the additional animal is obtained is also a registered herd; or

(b) the animal is a replacement breeding animal from a beef herd which satisfies the requirements of paragraph 6 of Part I.

4.  The herd shall continue to meet the requirements set out in paragraphs 2 to 6 of Part I.

5.  A bovine animal in the herd shall not be fed—

(a) any feed containing meat and bone meal; or

(b) any compound feed other than—

(i) home mixed feed using no meat and bone meal; or

(ii) proprietary feed from a mill which only produces feed for ruminants.

6.  The owner of a registered herd shall pay to the Department such reasonable charge as the Department may from time to time determine to be the annual membership fee for the Beef Assurance Scheme, which charge shall not exceed the appropriate share of the administration costs of the Scheme.

Part III Conditions for the issue of a slaughter certificate

1.  The animal shall be part of a herd which, at the time of issue of the certificate, is registered under the Beef Assurance Scheme and complies with the conditions of eligibility set out in Part I and Part II.

2.  The animal shall have been born in the herd to which it belongs at the time of issue of the certificate, or in another herd which was registered at the time of slaughter.

3.  The animal shall never have formed part of a herd which at that time failed to comply with the conditions of eligibility for membership of the Beef Assurance Scheme set out in Part I or Part II.

4.  The animal shall have two ear tags bearing the official number of the animal, one of which must be readable at a distance.

5.  The animal shall not be more than 42 months old at the time of issue of the certificate.

Part IV Conditions for the issue of a veterinary certificate

1.  The carcase shall be that of an animal forming part of a herd which, at the time of slaughter, was registered and complied with the conditions set out in Part I and Part II.

2.  The carcase shall be that of an animal born in the herd to which it belonged at the time of slaughter, or in another herd which was registered at the time of slaughter.

3.  The carcase shall be that of an animal which never formed part of a herd which at that time failed to comply with the conditions of eligibility for membership of the Beef Assurance Scheme set out in Part I or Part II.

4.  The carcase shall have two ear tags bearing the official number of the animal.

5.  The carcase shall be that of an animal not more than 42 months old at the time of issue of the certificate.