The Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-And-Mouth Disease) (No. 2) Regulations 2002

Dispatch of fresh meat, minced meat and meat preparations

6.—(1) No person shall dispatch any fresh meat of animals of the bovine, ovine, caprine or porcine species or other biungulate coming from the restricted area or obtained from animals originating in that area.

(2) In paragraph (1), the reference to “fresh meat” includes minced meat and meat preparations to which Council Directive 94/65/EC (laying down the requirements for the production and placing on the market of minced meat and meat preparations (1)) applies.

(3) The prohibition in paragraph (1) shall not apply in relation to—

(a) fresh meat, minced meat or meat preparations obtained before 1st February 2001, provided that the meat, minced meat or meat preparation is clearly identified and since that date has been transported and stored separately from meat, minced meat or meat preparations which is not destined for dispatch; or

(b) fresh meat obtained from approved cutting plants under the following conditions—

(i) the only meat processed in the establishment at the time of processing meat eligible for dispatch under these Regulations is fresh meat described in sub-paragraph (a), fresh meat from animals reared and slaughtered outside the restricted area, or fresh meat obtained from animals reared and slaughtered within the areas listed in Schedule 2;

(ii) cleansing and disinfection must be carried out after processing any meat not meeting the requirement in paragraph (3)(b)(i);

(iii) all the meat must bear the health mark in accordance with Chapter XI of Annex I to Council Directive 64/433/EEC (on health problems affecting the production and marketing of meat products and certain other products of animal origin(2)) or, in the case of meat from farmed game of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease, the health mark provided for in Chapter III of Annex I to Council Directive 91/495/EEC (concerning public health and animal health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of rabbit meat and farmed game meat (3)) or in the case of wild game of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease, in accordance with the provisions of Annex I of Chapter VII of Council Directive 92/45/EC (on public health and animal health problems relating to the killing of wild game and the placing on the market of wild game meat(4));

(iv) the cutting plant must be operated under strict veterinary control; and

(v) the meat must be clearly identified, transported and stored separately from meat, minced meat and meat preparations which is not destined for dispatch;

(c) minced meat and meat preparations obtained from establishments approved under the Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations 1995 and also approved under these Regulations under the following conditions—

(i) the only meat processed in the establishment at the time of processing meat eligible for dispatch under these Regulations is fresh meat described in sub-paragraph (a), fresh meat from animals reared and slaughtered outside the restricted area or fresh meat obtained from animals reared and slaughtered within the areas listed in Schedule 2;

(ii) cleansing and disinfection must be carried out after processing any meat not meeting the requirement in paragraph (3)(c)(i);

(iii) all the minced meat and meat preparations must bear the health mark in accordance with Chapter VI of Annex 1 to Council Directive 94/65/EC;

(iv) the plant must be operated under strict veterinary control; and

(v) the minced meat and meat preparations must be clearly identified and transported and stored separately from meat, minced meat and meat preparations which are not destined for dispatch;

(d) fresh meat, minced meat or meat preparations obtained from bovine, ovine, caprine or porcine animals or farmed game of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease and conforming to the following conditions—

(i) the meat must be obtained from animals reared within the areas specified for the respective category of meat in the appropriate column in Schedule 2;

(ii) there has been no outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the administrative area from which the animal is sourced during the 90 days prior to dispatch;

(iii) during the 30 days prior to transport to the slaughterhouse the animals have remained subject to the supervision of the relevant competent authority on a single holding situated within the areas listed in Schedule 2 in the centre of a circle around the holding of at least 10 kilometres radius where there has been no outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease during at least the past 30 days;

(iv) no animal of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease has been introduced into the holding referred to in sub-paragraph (d)(iii) above during the past 30 days prior to loading, or in the case of farmed game prior to on-farm slaughtering, except in the case of porcine or bovine animals coming from a supplying holding which meets the requirements laid down in that sub-paragraph, in which case this period shall be 7 days;

(v) the animals, or in the case of farmed game slaughtered on the farm, the carcases, must be transported under licence in writing granted by an officer of the local authority where the holding is situated, from the holding to an approved establishment situated in a county in England listed in Schedule 2;

(vi) the means of transport must be cleansed and disinfected before the animals (or, in the case of farmed game, the first carcases) of a consignment are loaded or collected;

(vii) the person consigning the animals to the slaughterhouse must give at least 72 hours written notice to the official veterinary surgeon at the slaughterhouse that animals the meat of which is intended for dispatch under this paragraph will be sent to the slaughterhouse;

(viii) the animals must be slaughtered within 24 hours of arrival at the establishment separately from animals whose meat is not eligible for dispatch;

(ix) during inspection by the official veterinary surgeon at the slaughterhouse no evidence of clinical or post-mortem signs of foot-and-mouth disease were established;

(x) the meat derived from such animals remained in the establishment for at least 24 hours after slaughter;

(xi) all fresh meat must bear the health mark in accordance with Chapter XI of Annex I to Council Directive 64/433/EEC or in the case of farmed game the health mark provided for in Chapter III of Annex I of Council Directive 91/495/EEC;

(xii) the slaughterhouse must be operated under strict veterinary control;

(xiii) in the case where foot-and-mouth disease has been diagnosed in the slaughterhouse, any further preparation of meat for dispatch shall only be authorized after the slaughter of all animals present, removal of all meat and dead animals and not earlier than 24 hours after the completion of the total cleaning and disinfection of the establishment under the control of a veterinary inspector;

(xiv) the fresh meat must be clearly identified, and transported and stored separately from meat which is not eligible for dispatch;

(e) fresh meat obtained from wild game of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease and conforming to the following conditions—

(i) the meat must be obtained from wild game killed within the areas specified for the respective category of meat in the appropriate column in Schedule 2;

(ii) there has been no outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the administrative area from which the animal was sourced during the 90 days prior to dispatch;

(iii) the meat originates from animals killed at least 20 kilometres from areas not included in Schedule 2;

(iv) after the animals were killed, the carcases were handled in accordance with the provisions of Annex I, Chapter III of Council Directive 92/45/EC and transported to an establishment which is either a wild game collection centre or an approved processing house, for chilling;

(v) the wild game collection centre or the approved processing house must be in an area in Schedule 2;

(vi) the person consigning the carcases to the collection centre or approved processing house must give at least 72 hours written notice to the official veterinary surgeon responsible for the collection centre or approved processing house that game which is intended for dispatch under this paragraph will be sent;

(vii) during post-mortem inspection by the official veterinary surgeon the carcases were found free of lesions of foot-and-mouth disease;

(viii) the meat derived from the animals remained in the establishment for at least 24 hours after the post-mortem inspection;

(ix) at all stages of production the meat must have been handled in accordance with the requirements of Council Directive 92/45/EEC;

(x) the meat must bear the health mark in accordance with Chapter VII of Annex I to Council Directive 92/45/EEC;

(xi) the establishment must be operated under strict veterinary control;

(xii) in the case where foot-and-mouth disease has been diagnosed in the establishment, any further preparation of meat for dispatch shall only be authorized after the slaughter of all animals present, removal of all meat and dead animals and not earlier than 24 hours after the completion of the total cleaning and disinfection of the establishment under the control of a veterinary inspector;

(xiii) the fresh meat must be clearly identified, and transported and stored separately from meat which is not eligible for dispatch;

(f) fresh meat destined for placing on the market in Great Britain and obtained from cutting plants situated in the British Islands outside the areas listed in Schedule 2 under the following conditions—

(i) the meat is derived from animals reared and slaughtered in Great Britain;

(ii) the meat remained in the slaughterhouse for at least 24 hours after slaughter;

(iii) the cutting plants processing the meat are approved by the competent authority exclusively for the production of fresh meat destined for dispatch only within the United Kingdom;

(iv) all such meat shall be transported, stored and processed separately from meat eligible for dispatch and shall bear the health mark in accordance with Commission Decision 2001/304/EC (on marking and use of certain animal products in relation to Decision 2001/172/EC(5));

(v) all meat originating in the restricted area and processed in cutting plants referred to in sub-paragraph (f)(iii) shall only be placed on the market in the restricted area;

(vi) the plants must be operated under strict veterinary control.

(4) Movement of bovine or porcine animals between holdings which are in the same occupancy and which have been granted a sole occupancy licence under article 31 of the Foot-And-Mouth Disease Order 1983 shall be disregarded for the purposes of establishing when animals were last moved on to a holding.

(5) Meat, minced meat or meat preparations consigned to another member State shall be accompanied by an official certificate prepared by the Secretary of State or the Minister and signed by a person appointed as an officer of the kind specified in the certificate which bears the following words—

• “Meat conforming to Commission Decision 2001/172/EC of 1st March 2001 concerning certain protection measures with regard to foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom”.

(1)

OJ No. L368, 31.12.94, p.10.

(2)

OJ No. 121, 27.9.1964, p.2012/64; Directive updated by Directive 91/497/EEC (OJ No. L268, 24.9.1991, p. 69) as last amended by Directive 95/23/EC (OJ No. L243, 11.10.1995, p.7).

(3)

OJ No. L268, 24.09.1991, p. 41 as last amended by Council Directive 1994/65/EC (OJ No. L368, 31.12.1994 p.10).

(4)

OJ No. L268, 14.9.1992, p.33 as last amended by Council Directive 97/79/EC, OJ No. L24, 30.1.1998, p.31).

(5)

OJ No. L104, 13.4.2001, p.6.