The Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (No.4) Regulations 2007

Export of fresh meat, minced meat, mechanically separated meat and meat preparations and sale of meat not eligible for export

6.—(1) No person may export any meat from animals of the bovine, ovine, caprine or porcine species or other biungulate coming from Great Britain or obtained from animals originating in Great Britain.

(2) In this regulation, the reference to “meat” includes fresh meat, minced meat, mechanically separated meat and meat preparations as defined in points 1.10, 1.13, 1.14 and 1.15 of Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin(1).

(3) The prohibition in paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to meat bearing a health mark in accordance with Chapter III of Section I of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption(2), provided that the meat—

(a) is clearly identified, and has been transported and stored since the date of production separately from meat from Great Britain not eligible for export; and

(b) complies either with—

(i) paragraph (4); or

(ii) paragraphs (5) and (6).

(4) The meat referred to in paragraph (3)(b)(i) must have been—

(a) obtained before 15th July 2007; or

(b) derived from animals reared for at least 90 days prior to slaughter outside Great Britain and slaughtered outside Great Britain or, in the case of meat obtained from wild game of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease, killed outside Great Britain.

(5) The meat referred to in paragraph (3)(b)(ii) must be obtained from domestic bovine, ovine, caprine or porcine animals that—

(a) were kept for at least the past 90 days on holdings situated within the areas specified in the Schedule, where there has been no outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease for 90 days;

(b) during the 30 days prior to transport to the slaughterhouse, remained under the supervision of the Secretary of State on a single holding—

(i) situated in the centre of a circle of at least 10 km radius in which there was no outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease during at least the past 30 days; and

(ii) where no animal of a species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease was introduced during the 21 days prior to loading, except in the case of pigs coming from a holding which also meets the conditions set out in sub-paragraph (a), in which case this period is reduced to 7 days;

(c) were transported under control of the Secretary of State in means of transport that were cleaned and disinfected before loading from the holding referred to in sub-paragraph (b) directly to the approved slaughterhouse; and

(d) were slaughtered less than 24 hours after arrival at the slaughterhouse separately from animals the meat of which is not eligible for export.

(6) The meat referred to in paragraph (3)(b)(ii) must also—

(a) be obtained in an approved slaughterhouse situated within the areas specified in the Schedule;

(b) be at all times clearly identified, handled, stored and transported separately from meat not eligible for export;

(c) be inspected, along with the animal from which it derived, post-mortem by an official veterinarian in the slaughterhouse with no clinical signs or evidence of foot-and-mouth disease identified; and

(d) remain in the slaughterhouse for at least 24 hours after that post-mortem inspection.

(7) If foot-and-mouth disease is identified in a slaughterhouse within the areas specified in the Schedule, the occupier must ensure that—

(a) all animals present are slaughtered;

(b) all meat and dead animals are removed;

(c) the slaughterhouse is cleansed and disinfected; and

(d) no meat is prepared for consigning outside the areas listed in the Schedule for 24 hours following completion of the cleansing and disinfection required by sub-paragraph (c).

(8) The prohibition in paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to fresh meat obtained from an approved cutting plant situated in Great Britain if—

(a) only fresh meat as described in paragraph (3)(b) is processed in the cutting plant in any one day;

(b) cleansing and disinfection is carried out after processing any meat not meeting the requirement in sub-paragraph (a);

(c) all meat bears the health mark in accordance with Chapter III of Section I to Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 854/2004;

(d) the cutting plant is operated under strict veterinary control; and

(e) the fresh meat is clearly identified, and has been transported and stored separately from meat from Great Britain that is not eligible for export.

(9) Any person consigning an animal to a slaughterhouse to produce meat intended for export in accordance with this regulation must provide a written declaration that it complies with each of the conditions contained in sub-paragraphs (5)(a) to (d) and ensure that such declaration accompanies the consigned animal.

(10) Meat exported to another member State must be accompanied by an official certificate from an official veterinarian which bears the following words—

“Meat conforming to Commission Decision 2007/554/EC of 9 August 2007 concerning certain protection measures against foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom”.

(11) Meat not eligible for export to another member State must be marked in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 4(1) of Council Directive 2002/99/EC laying down the animal health rules governing the production, processing, distribution and introduction of products of animal origin for human consumption(3), or in accordance with Commission Decision 2001/304/EC on the marking and use of certain animal products(4).

(12) Fresh meat obtained from animals reared outside Great Britain and transported directly and under official control in sealed means of transport to an approved slaughterhouse situated in Great Britain, may be placed on the market in England if—

(a) the meat is marked in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 4(1) of Directive 2002/99/EC or in accordance with Decision 2001/304/EC;

(b) the slaughterhouse is operated under strict veterinary control; and

(c) the meat is clearly identified, and has been transported and stored separately from meat from Great Britain that is not eligible for export.

(1)

OJ No. L139, 30.4.2004, p. 55.

(2)

OJ No. L139, 30.4.2004, p. 206 as last amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1791/2006.

(3)

OJ No. L18, 23.1.2003, p 11.

(4)

OJ No.L104, 13.4.2001, p 6.