The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Amendment) Order 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1996 ( “the principal Order”).

The definition of “rendering” in article 4(1) of the principal Order is replaced by a revised definition which refers directly to the Schedule to the Animal By-Products Order 1992 in which rendering processes are defined (article 2(2)).

The Order makes provision for the sale of MBM products at premises where feeding stuffs for livestock are produced, by amending article 13 of the principal Order. MBM products may now be offered for sale at such premises provided that they are kept in separate buildings from those in which the feeding stuff is produced and the feeding stuff and its constituent ingredients stored. Exceptionally, MBM products and feeding stuffs for livestock may both be kept in the same building, provided they are there solely to be sold there. In this case, the requirements which apply to other premises selling both MBM products and livestock feeding stuffs apply, in order to prevent any contamination of the feeding stuffs by the MBM Product (article 2(3)).

The Order makes an exception to the record-keeping requirement set out in article 16 of the principal Order. It provides that no records need to be kept where mammalian meat and bone meal presented as a fertiliser for a use permitted by the Fertilisers (Mammalian Meat and Bone Meal) Regulations 1996 is sold by retail, provided that it is sold in packages of not more than 26 kg, and that not more than 104 kg is sold in the transaction. The amendment also provides that the retailer need not keep records relating to delivery to him of such fertilisers (article 2(7)).

A Compliance Cost Assessment for this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Bovine Products Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2JA.