These Regulations make provision for the purpose of dealing in England with the obligations— a in article 1.2 of Commission Decision 2000/764/EC (OJ No. L305, 6.12.2000, p. 35) on the testing of bovine animals for the presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and amending Decision 98/272/EC (OJ No. L122, 24.4.1998, p. 59) on epidemio-surveillance for transmissible encephalopathies; and b Commission Decision 2001/233/EC (OJ No. L84, 2001, p. 59) amending Decision 2000/418/EC as regards mechanically recovered meat and bovine vertebral column.

These require member States to ensure that certain categories of bovine animals over 30 months of age are examined in accordance with prescribed minimum requirements for monitoring BSE.

To enable these obligations are implemented, the Regulations require the person in possession or in charge of a notifiable bovine animal, defined in regulation 2 as a bovine animal aged over 30 months of age which dies on any farm or in transport or which has been killed otherwise than for human consumption, to notify the death to the agent appointed for this purpose by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The Regulations provide powers of entry, examination, search and sampling, offences and penalties and enforcement.

Related amendments for the purpose of dealing with these Community obligations are made to article 11 of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (No. 2) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/3183, amended by S.I. 1997/2387, S.I. 1998/3071 and S.I. 1999/921) and regulations 2 and 26 of the Cattle Identification Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/871, amended by S.I. 1998/2969 and S.I. 1999/1339) and regulations 2 and 9 of the Cattle (Identification of Older Animals) Regulations (S.I. 2000/2976).

A Regulatory Impact Assessment for these Regulations has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the BSE Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ.