Food (Animals and Animal Products from Belgium) (Emergency Control) (No. 4) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order revokes and re-enacts, with certain changes, the Food (Animals and Animal Products from Belgium) (Emergency Control) (No. 3) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 357 “the revoked Order”) and implements, in relation to food and food sources, Commission Decision 1999/640/EC on protective measures with regard to contamination by dioxins of certain products of porcine and poultry origin intended for human or animal consumption (O.J. No. L253, 28.9.99, p. 19).

Like the revoked Order, this Order defines 'relevant animal and animal product' (Article 1(2)), prohibits (with exceptions (Article 2)) the carrying out of commercial operations relating to them (Article 3), specifies the enforcement authority (Article 4) and applies with modifications provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (Article 5).

In addition to making minor changes to the revoked Order, this Order, by referring to Decision 1999/640/EC, makes the following changes of substance—

(a) it narrows the coverage of the revoked Order in that—

(i) it does not apply to bovine animals, but only to pigs and poultry, and

(ii) in relation to the categories of product derived from pigs and poultry to which it applies, it excludes certain material from the category “meat products and other products of animal origin”;

(b) as a consequence of the fact that products of bovine origin are no longer controlled, it removes the exclusion of milk fat previously contained in the category “products intended for human consumption which contain other products of porcine or poultry origin, which contain more than 2% of animal fat”;

(c) the controls in it apply irrespective of whether, in the case of poultry, pigs and eggs, these were reared/produced in holdings placed under restriction by Belgian authorities or, in the case of products derived from poultry or pigs, whether the animals concerned were so reared;

(d) it reflects changes (consequential on the changes refered to in paragraphs (a) to (c)) to the certification requirements for the importation from Belgium of animals and animal products controlled by this Order, including the fact that there are no longer any conditions restricting the issue by Belgium of such certification; and

(e) because those conditions no longer apply, it reflects the fact that the return of products to Belgium in accordance with procedures set out in Article 5 of Decision 1999/640 is now again permitted.