The Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (England) Regulations 2008

PART 1 Monitoring for TSE

Notifications for the purposes of monitoring under Article 6 of the Community TSE Regulation

1.—(1) For the purposes of monitoring under Article 6 of the Community TSE Regulation, a person who has in their possession or under their control the body of a bovine animal that must be tested in accordance with point 3(1) of Part I of Chapter A of Annex III to that Regulation, or the body of any goat aged 18 months or over at death, must—

(a) within 24 hours from the time when the animal dies or was killed or the body comes into their possession or charge notify the Secretary of State; and

(b) detain it until it has been collected by or on behalf of the Secretary of State,

and failure to do so is an offence.

(2) This paragraph does not apply in relation to goats slaughtered for human consumption or killed in accordance with Schedule 4.

Consignment and slaughter of an over-age bovine animal

2.  If a bovine animal was born or reared in the United Kingdom before 1st August 1996, it is an offence—

(a) to consign it to a slaughterhouse for human consumption (whether the animal is alive or dead); or

(b) to slaughter it for human consumption in a slaughterhouse.

Brain stem sampling of bovine animals

3.—(1) The occupier of a slaughterhouse in which a bovine animal specified in point 2(1) or 2(2) of Part I of Chapter A of Annex III to the Community TSE Regulation is slaughtered must—

(a) take a sample comprising the brain stem for testing in accordance with point 1 of Chapter C of Annex X to the Community TSE Regulation;

(b) ensure that the animal from which the sample has been taken can be identified; and

(c) arrange for the sample to be delivered to an approved testing laboratory,

and failure to do so is an offence.

(2) The Secretary of State must, by means of a notice, notify the occupier of a slaughterhouse if an animal comes into any of the categories specified in point 2(1) of Part I of Chapter A to Annex III to the Community TSE Regulation (except in the case of a dead animal consigned to a slaughterhouse with a written declaration from a veterinary surgeon that it falls into one of those categories).

(3) In accordance with point 5 of Part I of Chapter A of Annex III to the Community TSE Regulation, the Secretary of State may serve a notice on the occupier of a slaughterhouse requiring them to take a sample from any bovine animal slaughtered there and send it for testing in accordance with sub-paragraph (1).

Approval of laboratories

4.—(1) The Secretary of State must approve laboratories to test samples taken under paragraph 3 if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the laboratory—

(a) will carry out the testing in accordance with Chapter C of Annex X to the Community TSE Regulation;

(b) has adequate quality control procedures; and

(c) has adequate procedures to ensure the correct identification of the samples and notification of the test results to the consigning slaughterhouse and to the Secretary of State.

(2) The Secretary of State may charge the fees set out in the following table for the initial approval and ongoing quality assessment of a laboratory—

Fees for laboratory approvals and quality assessment

	Fee(£)
Initial approval	29,770
Annual proficiency testing and follow-up inspection for the first year after approval	8,834
Annual proficiency testing from the second year after approval	4,135
Single proficiency test (in the event of a failure in the annual proficiency testing)	1,385
Hourly rate of an inspector (for any additional inspections that are necessary to check for compliance with the matters set out at sub-paragraphs (1)(a) to (c))	87.24

(3) An “approved testing laboratory” means a laboratory approved under this paragraph or a laboratory in another part of the United Kingdom approved by the competent authority to carry out the test.

Slaughter of bovine animals over 30 months of age

5.—(1) It is an offence for the occupier to use a slaughterhouse to slaughter for human consumption a bovine animal aged over 30 months unless the Secretary of State has approved the Required Method of Operation (“RMOP”) for that slaughterhouse and that occupier.

(2) The RMOP must, as a minimum—

(a) describe the procedures that will be followed to comply with Part 1 of this Schedule; and

(b) describe all the systems and procedures specified in Part 2 of this Schedule.

(3) The Secretary of State must approve the RMOP if the Secretary of State is satisfied that all the requirements of the Community TSE Regulation and these Regulations will be complied with, and the occupier must demonstrate this by means of an assessment of two days’ duration in which animals are slaughtered (using bovine animals under 30 months old unless the slaughterhouse is operating for the purposes of Commission Regulation (EC) No 716/96 adopting exceptional support measures for the beef market in the United Kingdom(1)).

(4) If a bovine animal aged over 30 months is slaughtered for human consumption other than in accordance with the RMOP, the occupier of the slaughterhouse is guilty of an offence.

Retention of products and disposal

6.—(1) In relation to any sampled bovine animal, the occupier of a slaughterhouse, hide market or tannery must, for the purposes of point 6(3) of Part I of Chapter A of Annex III to the Community TSE Regulation and pending receipt of the test result, either—

(a) retain all carcases and all parts of the body (including the blood and the hide) that will have to be disposed of in the event of a positive result; or

(b) dispose of them in accordance with sub-paragraph (2).

(2) For the purposes of points 6(4) and 6(5) of that Part, if a positive result is received for a sampled animal, the occupier must immediately dispose of—

(a) the carcase and all parts of the body of that animal (including the blood and the hide); and

(b) unless a derogation has been granted under sub-paragraph (5), the carcase and all parts of the body (including the blood and the hide) of the animal immediately preceding that animal on the slaughter line and the two animals immediately following it,

in accordance with point 6(4) of that Part.

(3) If no sample has been sent to an approved testing laboratory for testing in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Schedule, or if an insufficient test result is received, in respect of an animal required to be tested under this Schedule, the occupier must immediately dispose of—

(a) the carcase and all parts of the body (including the blood and the hide) of that animal; and

(b) unless a derogation has been granted under sub-paragraph (5), the carcase and all parts of the body (including the blood but not the hide) of the animal immediately preceding that animal on the slaughter line and the two animals immediately following it,

in accordance with point 6(4) of that Part; and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph an “insufficient test result” means a certification by an approved testing laboratory that the sample sent to the laboratory was not of an adequate quality or was not of a sufficient quantity to obtain a test result.

(4) If a no-test result is received, in respect of an animal required to be tested under this Schedule, the occupier must immediately dispose of the carcase and all parts of the body (including the blood and the hide) of that animal in accordance with point 6(4) of that Part; and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph a “no-test result” means a negative result from a sample following multiple rapid testing where such testing was certified as necessary by an approved testing laboratory.

(5) The Secretary of State may grant in writing a derogation under point 6(6) of Part I of Chapter A of Annex III to the Community TSE Regulation if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the slaughterhouse operates a system that prevents contamination between carcases.

(6) In relation to any sheep or goat selected for sampling, the occupier of a slaughterhouse, hide market or tannery must—

(a) for the purposes of point 7(3) of Part II of Chapter A of Annex III to the Community TSE Regulation, retain the carcase and all parts of the body (including the blood and the hide) pending receipt of the test result; and

(b) in the event of a positive result, immediately dispose of the carcase and all parts of the body (including the blood and the hide) in accordance with point 7(4) of that Part.

(7) In this paragraph the powers of an inspector may also be exercised by a person appointed as such in relation to a hide market or tannery by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

(8) Any person who fails to comply with sub-paragraphs (1) to (4) or (6) is guilty of an offence.

Compensation

7.—(1) If an animal slaughtered for human consumption tests positive, the Secretary of State must pay compensation for the carcase and all parts of the body (including the blood and the hide) of—

(a) that animal; and,

(b) if they are destroyed because of that positive result, the animal immediately preceding it on the slaughter line and the two animals immediately following it.

(2) The compensation is the market value, established under the procedure in regulation 11, with the occupier paying any fee arising for nominating and employing a valuer.

(3) Compensation is not payable in any other case.

(1)

OJ No L 99, 20.4.96, p 14, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2109/2005 (OJ No L 337, 22.12.2005, p 25).