1. These Regulations may be cited as the Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) (Charges) Regulations 1998 and shall come into force on 28th September 1998.
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“accounting period” means a period determined by the Minister;
“agreed PIA costs” means, in respect of any premises licensed under the Poultry Meat Regulations, such sum as the Minister and the occupier of the premises may agree as being the total cost, during an accounting period, of the salaries of plant inspection assistants authorised to operate there under regulation 11 of the Poultry Meat Regulations (including the entire cost in that accounting period of overtime payments and employers' pension and National Insurance contributions made in respect of the employment of such assistants), plus the additional sum of 25 per cent of that total cost;
“cut up” shall be construed in accordance with the definition of “cutting up” in regulation 2(1) of the Wild Game Regulations;
“cutting operation” means in relation to meat any—
cutting;
de-boning;
wrapping; or
re-wrapping,
of the meat (but does not include passing it through a spiral screw mincer);
“employers' National Insurance contributions” means those social security contributions for which employers are liable under Part I of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(1);
“the Fresh Meat Regulations” means the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995(2);
“the Hygiene Regulations” means the Fresh Meat Regulations, the Poultry Meat Regulations and the Wild Game Regulations;
“inspection charge” means the charge calculated in accordance with the Schedule to these Regulations and notified in accordance with regulation 3(1), (2) or (3) of these Regulations;
“inspections” means the supervision and controls specified in the Hygiene Regulations and the monitoring of the requirements of the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995(3) insofar as such monitoring relates to the welfare of animals slaughtered for human consumption in slaughterhouses;
“occupier” means a person carrying on the business of a slaughterhouse, cutting premises or a cold store, or his duly authorised representative;
“the Poultry Meat Regulations” means the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995(4);
“premises” means any slaughterhouse, cutting premises or cold store;
“wrapping”, in relation to meat, means placing it in material which comes in direct contact with the meat, and “re-wrapping” shall be construed accordingly; and
“the Wild Game Regulations” means the Wild Game Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995(5).
(2) References in these Regulations to any place specified in column (1) of the table set out in this paragraph are to any place specified in the corresponding entry in column (2) of that table which is licensed as such under any of the Hygiene Regulations—
| Column (1) | Column (2) |
|---|---|
| slaughterhouse | slaughterhouse |
| low throughput slaughterhouse | |
| farmed game handling facility | |
| wild game processing facility where wild game may be dressed | |
| farmed game processing facility | |
| low throughput farmed game processing facility | |
| cutting premises | cutting premises |
| low throughput cutting premises | |
| re-wrapping centre | |
| wild game processing facility where wild game may be cut up | |
| cold store | cold store |
3.—(1) The Minister shall, subject to the following provisions of this regulation, notify the occupier of each slaughterhouse, cutting premises and cold store in which inspections have been undertaken in any accounting period of an inspection charge in respect of those inspections as soon as possible after the end of that period.
(2) Where the Minister cannot comply with paragraph (1) above because he has insufficient information available to him to calculate the inspection charge for any accounting period in respect of any place specified in that paragraph, he shall notify the occupier of that place of an interim charge, being such amount as he estimates (having regard to the information he has) the inspection charge to be.
(3) Where the Minister has notified an occupier of an interim charge in accordance with paragraph (2) above, and sufficient information becomes available to him to calculate the inspection charge, he shall calculate that charge and—
(a)where it exceeds the interim charge, notify the occupier of the final charge, being the amount by which the inspection charge exceeds the interim charge; or
(b)where it is less than the interim charge, credit to the occupier the amount by which the interim charge exceeds the inspection charge.
(4) Any charge notified to an occupier under paragraph (1), (2) or (3) above shall be payable by him to the Minister and shall be recoverable on demand by the Minister as a debt from the occupier concerned.
(5) Where at the end of a financial period it is found that in relation to any charge payable by an occupier under this regulation in respect of an accounting period in that financial period (being an accounting period of less than a year) the condition specified in paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Schedule to these Regulations was satisfied, the charges payable by the operator concerned under this regulation in respect of that financial period shall be recalculated as if the Minister had determined an accounting period corresponding with that financial period and any reduction in the inspection charge charged to the occupier resulting from that recalculation shall be credited to him.
(6) For the purposes of this regulation, “financial period” means the period commencing on the Monday immediately following the last Sunday in March in any year and ending on the last Sunday in March in the following year.
(7) Where any agreed PIA costs have been included in the calculation of any charge falling to be notified to an occupier under paragraph (1), (2) or (3) above those costs shall be deducted from the actual charge notified thereunder.
(8) The inspection charge payable by the occupier of—
(a)a wild game processing facility where wild game may be dressed shall be in respect of any wild game dressed there; and
(b)a wild game processing facility where wild game may be cut up shall be in respect of any cutting operation carried out on any wild game there.
(9) In paragraph (8) above, “wild game” and “wild game processing facility” have respectively the same meanings as in regulation 2(1) of the Wild Game Regulations.
(10) Where under paragraph (3)(b) or (5) above a sum is to be credited to an occupier, the Minister may if he so determines pay such sum to the occupier concerned instead of crediting it to him.
4.—(1) Any person shall on demand being made by the Minister, supply—
(a)such information as the Minister may reasonably require for the purpose of calculating the inspection charge or notifying an occupier of it; and
(b)such evidence as the Minister may reasonably require to enable him to verify information supplied under sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph.
(2) Any person who—
(a)in purported compliance with paragraph (1) above, knowingly or recklessly furnishes information which is false or misleading in a material particular; or
(b)without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within a reasonable time with a demand made under the said paragraph (1),
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
5. The Meat (Hygiene, Inspection and Examinations for Residues) (Charges) Regulations 1995(6) are revoked.
Jeff Rooker
Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
10th August 1998
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health
Tessa Jowell
Minister of State for Public Health
10th August 1998
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Scotland
Sewel
Parliamentary under Secretary of State, Scottish Office
23rd August 1998
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Wales
Peter Hain
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office
18th August 1998