(This note is not part of the Regulations.)
1. These Regulations make a number of amendments to the Beef Carcase (Classification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (S.R. 1992 No. 1, as amended by S.R. 1994 No. 486) (“the Regulations”) which provide for the administration and enforcement of the Community system for the classification of beef carcases, as required by Article 3 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1186/90 (O.J. No. L119, 11.5.90, p. 32). That Community system requires the classification of carcases and half-carcases in accordance with the Community scale defined by Article 3 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1208/81 (O.J. No. L123, 7.5.81, p. 3), as amended, and by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2930/81 (O.J. No. L293, 13.10.81, p. 6), as amended. That Community scale is in turn the basis for recording market prices in the beef and veal sector (Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1892/87 (O.J. No. L182, 3.7.87, p. 29)).
2. The amendments to the Regulations are as follows—
(a)certain definitions contained in paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation) are revised in the light of the making of the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 (S.R. 1997 No. 493);
(b)consequential amendments are made to Schedules 2 and 5 in the light of those revisions;
(c)a provision is inserted (new regulation 2(3)) relating to the recital of references to Community instruments; and
(d)a reference to Article 2(1)(a) of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 295/96 (O.J. No. L39, 17.2.96, p. 1) (requiring the operators of certain slaughterhouses to record market prices) is inserted into Schedule 1, thereby making it a “Community provision” as defined by paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (a failure to comply with which is an offence under regulation 13(2)(a) of the Regulations). Commission Regulation (EC) No. 295/96 was adopted under Article 2 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1892/87.