Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 2964

The Specified Risk Material Order 1997

Statutory Instruments printed from this website are printed under the superintendence and authority of the Controller of HMSO being the Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament.

The legislation contained on this web site is subject to Crown Copyright protection. It may be reproduced free of charge provided that it is reproduced accurately and that the source and copyright status of the material is made evident to users.

It should be noted that the right to reproduce the text of Statutory Instruments does not extend to the Queen's Printer imprints which should be removed from any copies of the Statutory Instrument which are issued or made available to the public. This includes reproduction of the Statutory Instrument on the Internet and on intranet sites. The Royal Arms may be reproduced only where they are an integral part of the original document.

The text of this Internet version of the Statutory Instrument which is published by the Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament has been prepared to reflect the text as it was Made. A print version is also available and is published by The Stationery Office Limited as the The Specified Risk Material Order 1997 , ISBN 0 11 065467 6. The print version may be purchased by clicking here. Braille copies of this Statutory Instrument can also be purchased at the same price as the print edition by contacting TSO Customer Services on 0870 600 5522 or e-mail:customer.services@tso.co.uk.

Further information about the publication of legislation on this website can be found by referring to the Frequently Asked Questions.

To ensure fast access over slow connections, large documents have been segmented into "chunks". Where you see a "continue" button at the bottom of the page of text, this indicates that there is another chunk of text available.

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

1997 No. 2964
ANIMALS
ANIMAL HEALTH
The Specified Risk Material Order 1997

	Made	16th December 1997
	Laid before Parliament	16th December 1997
	Coming into force	1st January 1998

ARRANGEMENT OF ARTICLES

1.	Title and commencement

2.	Interpretation

3.	Specified sheep or goat material

4.	Specified bovine material

5.	Approvals and licences

6.	Import of class I specified risk material

7.	Specified risk material for use in cosmetic, pharmaceutical and medical products

8.	Specified risk material for consumption by any creature

9.	Prohibition on the removal of brain and eyes

10.	Approved premises not producing food, feeding stuffs or cosmetic, pharmaceutical or medical products

14.	Recall, seizure and destruction of foods and feeding stuffs

15.	Seizure and destruction of imports

16.	Consignment

17.	Enforcement

18.	Amendment and revocation

Schedule 1

Foods and feeding stuffs requiring import certificates

Schedule 2

Form of importation certificate

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 1, 10(1)(a) and (c) and (2), 11, 29(2)(b), 35(1), 76(3) and 83(2) of, and paragraphs 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of Schedule 2 to the Animal Health Act 1981[1], as applied by the Zoonoses Order 1988[2], hereby make the following Order:

Title and commencement
1. This Order may be cited as the Specified Risk Material Order 1997 and shall come into force on 1st January 1998.

Interpretation
2. - (1) In this Order -

"approved premises" means premises approved for the purposes of article 10;

"appropriate veterinary authority" means the central authority of a territory empowered to carry out veterinary checks, or any authority in that territory to which it has delegated such powers;

"class I specified risk material" means -

but does not include material derived from animals which -

"class II specified risk material" means -

"feeding stuff" has the meaning given to it by section 66(1) of the Agriculture Act 1970[

"intestines" means that part of the digestive tract of a bovine animal from the junction of the abomasum and the duodenum to (and including) the rectum and anal sphincter;

"specified bovine material" has the meaning given in article 4;

"specified risk material" means class I specified risk material and class II specified risk material;

"specified sheep or goat material" has the meaning given in article 3;

"specified solid waste" means any solid matter resulting from the slaughter of bovine animals, sheep or goats, or from the subsequent processing of their carcases, which is collected in any part of the drainage system draining any place where specified bovine or sheep or goat material is handled; and

"UK specified risk material" means specified risk material derived from an animal which has died or was slaughtered in the United Kingdom.

    (2) For the purposes of this Order the supply of specified risk material, feeding stuffs or cosmetic, pharmaceutical or medical products otherwise than by sale at, in or from any place where specified risk material, feeding stuffs or cosmetic, pharmaceutical or medical products are supplied in the course of a business, shall be deemed to be a sale, and "sell" includes have in possession for or offer or expose for sale.

    (3) For the purposes of this Order material shall be treated as a cosmetic, pharmaceutical or medical product whether it is used or intended for use as such by itself or as an ingredient or additive in something which is so used or intended for such use.

    (4) Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Order to articles and Schedules are to articles of and Schedules to this Order.

Specified sheep or goat material
     3. - (1) In this Order "class I specified sheep or goat material" means -

(a) in relation to material derived from a sheep or goat which at the time it was slaughtered or died either had one or more permanent incisor teeth erupted through the gum or was aged more than 12 months -

(b) the spleen of a sheep or goat.

(2) In this Order "class II specified sheep or goat material" means the head of any sheep or goat which was slaughtered or died in the United Kingdom except -

(a) any part of it which is class I specified sheep or goat material;

(b) the horns, where they are removed from the head -

(c) the tongue, where it is removed from the head immediately after slaughter and before the head is stained in accordance with the Specified Risk Material Regulations 1997[5].

Specified bovine material
4. - (1) In this Order, "class I specified bovine material" means in relation to a bovine animal -

(a) the skull, including the brain and eyes, tonsils and spinal cord, of an animal which was slaughtered or died outside the UK at an age greater than twelve months; and

(b) the brains, spinal cord, thymus, tonsils, spleen and intestines of an animal which was slaughtered or died in the UK at an age greater than six months, and also the skull (including the eyes) of such an animal which was aged more than twelve months at the time of death.

(2) In this Order "class II specified bovine material" means in relation to a bovine animal -

(a) the head of an animal which was slaughtered or died in the United Kingdom at an age of six months or over, except -

(b) the thymus and intestines of an animal which -

Approvals and licences
     5. - (1) The appropriate Minister may, on application, approve any premises for the purpose of this Order if he is satisfied that such premises are properly equipped to carry out the functions to which the approval relates and comply with the requirements of this Order.

    (2) Any approval or licence granted under this Order shall be in writing and may be made subject to conditions and be amended, suspended or revoked at any time by notice in writing served on the person to whom it was granted if the appropriate Minister is satisfied that the conditions of this Order, or any additional conditions in the approval or licence, are not being complied with.

Import of class I specified risk material
     6. - (1) No person shall import into Great Britain, otherwise than from the British Islands -

(a) any class I specified risk material, except where it is to be transported directly to approved premises; or

(b) any food or feeding stuff listed in Schedule 1, except a food or feeding stuff which -

    (2) Where class I specified risk material is imported under paragraph (1)(a) above the importer shall ensure that it is transported to approved premises without delay.

    (3) For the purposes of this article a food or feeding stuff shall be treated as containing class I specified risk material if it contains anything derived from it.

    (4) Contravention of, or failure to comply with, any provision of this article shall be an offence to which section 76(3) of the Animal Health Act 1981 applies.

    (5) It shall be a defence for any person charged with an offence under paragraph (1) above to prove -

(a) where it is alleged that he imported a food or feeding stuff listed in Schedule 1 containing class I specified risk material, that he did not know or have any reason to believe that it contained any class I specified risk material;

(b) where it is alleged that he imported a food or feeding stuff listed in Schedule 1 without the certificate referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(ii) above, that it was accompanied by a document purporting to be the certificate required by that paragraph, which he did not know or have any reason to believe to be false; and

(c) where it is alleged that he imported a food or feeding stuff listed in Schedule 1 which contained class I specified risk material and was not accompanied by the certificate referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(ii) above, that he did not know or have reason to believe that the food or feeding stuff contained class I specified risk material nor that the document purporting to be the certificate was false.

(a) any specified risk material;

(b) any feeding stuff containing specified risk material; or

(c) a whole carcase or any part of a sheep, goat or bovine animal from which specified risk material has not been removed in accordance with the Specified Risk Material Regulations 1997.

(5) Paragraph (4) above shall not apply to the feeding to any creature of any specified risk material or feeding stuff for research purposes in a research establishment under the authority of a licence issued by a veterinary inspector of the Minister and in accordance with any conditions subject to which the licence is issued, and paragraph (2) above shall not apply to the use of any specified risk material in the preparation of any feeding stuff for such feeding.

(6) For the purposes of this article -

(a) "creature" does not include a human being; and

(b) a feeding stuff shall be treated as containing specified risk material if it contains anything derived from it.

(7) It shall be a defence for any person charged with an offence under any of paragraphs (1) to (4) above to prove that he did not know or have any reason to believe that the material was, or the feeding stuff contained, specified risk material.

Prohibition on the removal of brain and eyes
9. No person shall remove the brain or eyes from the carcase of a bovine animal aged over six months, or from a carcase of a sheep or goat (of any age at death), except -

(a) for the purposes of veterinary or scientific examination or research; and

(b) in a part of the premises kept free at all times from food, feeding stuffs and any cosmetic, pharmaceutical or medical product.

Approved premises not producing food, feeding stuffs or cosmetic, pharmaceutical or medical products
10. - (1) The appropriate Minister may approve premises as being suitable to process specified risk material for use in a manufacturing process which is not producing any food or feeding stuff or any cosmetic, pharmaceutical or medical product or anything intended or likely to come into direct contact with any of them.

(2) The appropriate Minister shall approve premises for the purposes of paragraph (1) above where, following an inspection of those premises by a veterinary inspector, he is satisfied that -

(a) the operator of those premises has in place a system for tracing through the manufacturing process all specified risk material delivered to him sufficient to demonstrate -

(b) does not pose a risk to human or animal health.

(3) Any person delivering specified risk material to premises approved under this article shall state in writing to the operator of those premises the place from which that specified risk material was collected for delivery to those premises.

(4) The operator of approved premises shall record on arrival of specified risk material -

(a) the weight of the specified risk material delivered;

(b) the date of delivery; and

(c) the place from which it was collected for delivery to those premises, and shall keep such records for two years from the date of arrival.

(2) The Specified Bovine Material Order 1997[7] and the Heads of Sheep and Goats Order 1996[8] are hereby revoked.

Jack Cunningham
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

16th December 1997

Sewel
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office

11th December 1997

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Wales

Win Griffiths
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office

12th December 1997

SCHEDULE 1Article 6(1)

Foods and feeding stuffs requiring import certificates

Food and feeding stuffs of any of the following descriptions containing material of bovine, ovine or caprine origin -

     1. Fresh meat, as defined in regulation 2 of the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995[9]

     2. Minced meat and meat preparations, as defined in regulation 2 of the Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations 1995[10]

     3. Meat products, meat extracts, greaves and meat powder as defined in regulation 2 of the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1994[11]

     4. Milk products for human consumption containing gelatin or tallow

     5. Fishery products for human consumption containing gelatin or tallow

     6. Egg products for human consumption containing gelatin or tallow

     7. Snails or frogs' legs for human consumption containing gelatin or tallow

     8. Rendered animal fat, as defined in regulation 2 of the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1994

     9. Feeding stuffs

     10. Processed animal protein, including gelatin

     11. Bones and bone products.

SCHEDULE 2Article 6(2)

Form of importation certificate

Identification of products

Origin and destination of products

Declaration

- the skull, brain, eyes, tonsils and spinal cord of bovine animals aged over 12 months; - the skull, brain, eyes, tonsils and spinal cord of ovine or caprine animals which at the time of slaughter were more than 12 months of age or had one or more permanent incisor tooth erupted through the gum; - the spleens of ovine and caprine animals; - mechanically recovered meat produced on or after 1 January 1998 from the vertebral column (including the sacrum but not the coccygeal vertebrae) of bovine, ovine or caprine animals;

OR

*(III) does not contain and is not derived from bovine, ovine and caprine materials other than those derived from animals born, reared and slaughtered in the following countries:

- New Zealand - Australia

* - delete two of the three options as appropriate.

Signed

Notes:

[1] 1981 c.22. See section 86(1) for a definition of "the Ministers" and "the Minister".back

[2] S.I. 1988/2264, by virtue of which bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been designated as a disease of animals which constitutes a risk within section 29 of the Animal Health Act 1981.back

[3] 1970 c.40; the definition of "feeding stuff" in section 66(1), and the provisions of section 66(2) were substituted by regulation 20(1) of the Feeding Stuffs Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/1412).back

[4] 1990 c.16.back

[5] S.I. 1997/ .back

[6] S.I. 1988/2264.back

[7] S.I. 1997/617.back

[8] S.I. 1996/2264.back

[9] S.I. 1995/539.back

[10] S.I. 1995/3205.back

[11] S.I. 1994/3082.back

ISBN 0 11 065467 6

Other UK SIs \| Home \| National Assembly for Wales Statutory Instruments \| Scottish Statutory Instruments \| Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland \| Her Majesty's Stationery Office

We welcome your comments on this site	© Crown copyright 1997	Prepared 11 February 1998