2 Amendments to the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997
1 The Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (8).
S.R. 1997 No. 494
2 In regulation 4(1)(c) the words “the Department” shall be replaced by the words “the approval authority”.
3 In regulation 5(1)(c) the words “the Department” shall be replaced by the words “the approval authority”.
4 In regulation 14 (prepared food obtained from raw materials of animal origin) the phrase “(other than a meat-based prepared meal)” shall be deleted.
5 For regulation 15 (conditions for premises manufacturing other products of animal origin) there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“15 Conditions for premises manufacturing other products of animal origin
A person shall not manufacture other products of animal origin unless the premises where the manufacture takes place—
(a) (in the case of rendered animal fats, greaves and by-products) meet the requirements of Part II of Schedule 5;
(b) (in the case of stomachs, bladders and intestines) meet the requirements of Part II of Schedule 2 and Part III of Schedule 5; and
(c) (in all cases) meet the requirements of Schedule 1 and Part I of Schedule 5.”

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6 In Schedule 1 (general conditions)—
(a) in Part I (general conditions for approval of establishments)—
(i) in paragraph 8 the words “acceptable to the enforcement authority” shall be replaced with the words “specified in the approval document for the establishment concerned”; and
(ii) in paragraph 16 for the words “Where advantage is taken” to the end there shall be substituted the following words—

“Where advantage is taken of this derogation, cleaning and disinfection processes which do not make use of water may, with the consent of the enforcement authority, be applied in any part of an establishment to which the derogation provided for by this paragraph applies.”

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(b) in Part IIA (general conditions of hygiene applicable to establishments, equipment and tools), in paragraph 1 the word “principles” shall be replaced by the word “obligations”.
7 In Schedule 2 (special conditions)—
(a) in Part III (requirements for raw materials to be used for the manufacture of meat products) paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following—

“4 1 Products of animal origin, other than meat, shall only be included in meat products if they comply with the requirements applicable to them laid down in the Regulations listed in paragraph (2).
2 The Egg Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993;
The Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995;
The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995;
The Products of Animal Origin (Import and Export) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998;
The Food Safety (Fishery Products and Live Shellfish) (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.
S.R. 1993 No. 329 as amended by S.R. 1995 No. 360 and S.R. 1996 No. 383
S.R. 1995 No. 201 as amended by S.R. 1996 No. 287 and S.R. 1996 No. 383
S.R. 1995 No. 360; the relevant amending regulations are S.R. 1997 No. 493, S.R. 1997 No. 494, S.R. 1997 No. 495 and S.R. 1997 No. 496
S.R. 1998 No 45
S.R. 1998 No. 207”

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(b) in Part IV (supervision of production), in paragraph 1(d), the words “paragraph 4 of Part V” shall be replaced by the words “paragraph 5 of Part V”;
(c) in Part V (wrapping, packaging and labelling), in paragraph 6, the words “shall be placed on the package or otherwise clearly indicated” shall be replaced by the words “shall be visibly and legibly displayed on or with the packaging”;
(d) in Part VI (health mark), in paragraph 7 the words “acceptable to the enforcement authority” shall be replaced with the words “specified in the approval document for the establishment concerned”;
(e) in Part VI, after paragraph 9 the following paragraph shall be added—

“10 In the case of products in hermetically sealed containers, the health mark must be applied indelibly to the container.”

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(f) in Part VII (storage and transport)—
(i) in paragraph 1(b)(ii) the words “acceptable to” shall be replaced by the words “approved by”;
(ii) paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following paragraph—

“4 Meat products shall be accompanied at the first stage of marketing (which phrase has the same meaning as it does in 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 which is annexed to Council Directive 92/5/EEC) by the commercial document referred to in regulation 12(1)(c). For transport and marketing at subsequent stages, the products must be accompanied by a commercial document which bears the official approval code of the consigning establishment and identifying the enforcement authority for that establishment.
O.J. No. L57, 2.3.92, p. 4
O.J. No. L57, 2.3.92, p. 1”

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(iii) paragraph 5 shall be deleted;
(g) in Part VIII (special conditions for pasteurised or sterilised meat products in cans and other hermetically sealed containers), section B shall be replaced with the following—

“B The occupier of an establishment manufacturing meat products in hermetically sealed containers must also check by sampling—
(a) that a heat treatment is applied to meat products intended for storing at ambient temperature which is capable of destroying or inactivating all pathogenic micro-organisms and their spores. The occupier must keep a record of all relevant manufacturing parameters including (but not limited to) duration of heating, temperature, filling, size of containers. The heat treatment apparatus must be fitted with control devices making it possible to check that containers have undergone effective heat treatment;
(b) that the material used for the containers complies with the requirements of the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987;
S.R. 1987 No. 432, as amended by S.R. 1991 No. 203, S.R. 1991 No. 344 and S.R. 1994 No. 174
(c) the efficacy of the sealing, by means of samples of the daily output taken at pre-determined intervals. Equipment suitable for examining perpendicular sections and seams of the sealed containers shall be provided for this purpose;
(d) that—
(i) sterilised products have undergone effective treatment, by means of—
(aa) incubation tests. Incubation must be performed at at least 37°C for seven days or at least 35°C for 10 days, or any other time/temperature combination to which the prior consent of the enforcement authority has been obtained;
(bb) microbiological examination of the contents and the containers in the establishment’s laboratory or in another laboratory acceptable to the enforcement authority; and
(ii) pasteurised products in hermetically sealed containers satisfy criteria specified in the approval document for the establishment concerned; and
(e) that the cooling water contains a residual level of chlorine after use, unless the enforcement authority is satisfied that the water is potable water.
Any sample taken in compliance with paragraph (d) shall be selected on the basis of a sampling schedule which takes account of the different risks inherent in different products and processes.”

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(h) in Part IX, (special conditions for meat-based prepared meals) paragraph 2(a) shall be replaced by the following—

“2 (a) The meat product to be used in the prepared meal shall, as soon as it has been cooked—
(i) be mixed with the other ingredients as soon as practically possible; in that event the time during which the temperature of the meat products is between 10°C and 60°C shall not exceed two hours; or
(ii) be refrigerated to 10°C or less before being mixed with the other ingredients;”

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8 For Part III of Schedule 5 (special conditions for stomachs, bladders and intestines) there shall be substituted the following Part—

“PART III SPECIAL CONDITIONS FOR STOMACHS, BLADDERS AND INTESTINES
In addition to the conditions in Schedule 1 and Part II of Schedule 2, premises treating stomachs, bladders and intestines shall comply with the following conditions—
1 Raw materials shall come from animals which, following ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection, have been judged suitable for human consumption;
2 Products which cannot be kept at ambient temperature shall be stored until their dispatch in premises intended for that purpose. In particular, products which are not salted or dried shall be kept at a temperature of less than 3°C;
3 Raw materials shall be transported from the slaughterhouse of origin to the establishment under satisfactory hygiene conditions and, where appropriate in the light of the period between slaughter and the collection of the raw materials, refrigerated. Vehicles and containers for transporting such materials shall have smooth internal surfaces that are easy to wash, clean and disinfect. Vehicles for refrigerated transport shall be designed in such a way that the required temperature can be maintained throughout the period of transport;
4 Premises shall be provided for the storage of wrapping and packaging materials;
5 Wrapping and packaging shall take place under hygienic conditions in a room or in a place intended for that purpose;
6 The use of wood shall be forbidden; however, the use of wooden pallets shall be authorised for the transport of the containers of the products concerned.”

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