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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
1991No. 984
FOOD
The Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) and Meat Inspection (Amendment)
Regulations 1991
Made
13th April 1991
Laid before Parliament
22nd April 1991
Coming into force
13th May 1991
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of
State for Health and the Secretary of State for Wales, acting jointly,
in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 4(1), 6(4), 16(1)(b),
(c) and (d), 26(3) and 48(1) of, and paragraphs 5(1) and (2) and 6(1) of
Schedule 1 to, the Food Safety Act 1990[1]
and of all other powers enabling them to act in that
behalf, after consultation in accordance with section 48 of the said Act
with such organisations as appear to them to be representative of
interests substantially affected by the Regulations, hereby make the
following Regulations:
Title, commencement and extent 1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) and
Meat Inspection (Amendment) Regulations 1991 and shall come into force
on 13th May 1991.
(2) These Regulations shall apply to England and Wales.
Amendments 2. The Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977[2]
shall be amended as follows—
(a) at the beginning of regulation 5(d) (requirement relating to the
provision of covered accommodation and facilities for the emptying and
cleaning of stomachs and intestines) there shall be inserted the
following words—
"subject to regulation 5A,";
(b) after regulation 5 there shall be inserted the following
regulation—
"5A. The requirement contained in regulation 5(d) shall not apply in the
case of a slaughterhouse in which—
(a) the emptying and cleaning of stomachs and intestines is carried out
in the slaughterhouse by means of closed-circuit mechanical equipment
which has a suitable system of ventilation and which satisfies the
following requirements, that is to say—
(i) the equipment is installed and arranged in such a manner that
operations for separating intestines from the stomach and for the
emptying and cleaning of stomachs can be carried out hygienically and
the equipment is located in a special space which is clearly separated
from any exposed meat by a partition stretching from the floor to a
height of at least three metres and surrounding the area where these
operations are carried out;
(ii) the design and operation of the equipment effectively prevents any
contamination of meat;
(iii) an air extractor is installed in the equipment which eliminates
odours and any risk of aerosol contamination;
(iv) the equipment contains a device for ensuring the closed-circuit
evacuation of the residual water and the content of stomachs to the
slaughterhouse drainage system;
(b) the routes followed by stomachs to and from the equipment are
clearly separated and at a suitable distance from the routes followed by
other meat;
(c) stomachs are removed from such equipment in a hygienic manner
immediately they have been emptied and cleaned; and
(d) staff handling stomachs do not handle, or have access to, any other
meat."
; and
(c) for regulation 32 there shall be substituted the following
regulation—
"32. The occupier of every slaughterhouse (other than an export
slaughterhouse approved under the Fresh Meat Export (Hygiene and
Inspection) Regulations 1987[3]
) shall ensure that—
(a) animals brought into the slaughterhall are slaughtered without
delay;
(b) bleeding is completed without delay and any blood which is not
immediately swilled down a drain is collected in a clean receptacle
provided for that purpose and, if intended for human consumption, is so
kept as to remain readily identifiable with the carcases from which it
was collected until the carcases have been inspected in accordance with
regulation 10(1) of, and Schedule 1 to, the Meat Inspection Regulations
1987[4]
;
(c) subject to the provisions of the Meat Inspection Regulations 1987,
the stomachs and intestines of slaughtered animals are removed from the
slaughterhall unopened, and in such a manner that they do not come into
contact with the floor of the slaughterhall, as soon as possible after
they have been separated from the carcase and that they are not opened
or cleaned in any part of the premises which contains blood intended for
human consumption or any meat other than stomachs or intestines;
(d) slaughtered animals are dressed in the following manner—
(i) in the case of bovine animals and solipeds by the removal of the
tonsils, the hide or skin, the head (save that where retention of the
ears on carcases of bovine animals is necessary for any certification
purpose removal may be delayed until completion of that certification),
the viscera (save that the lungs, the heart, the liver, the spleen, the
mediastinum and the kidneys may remain attached to the carcase by their
natural connections), the genital organs (subject to regulation 8(3) of
the Meat Inspection Regulations 1987), the urinary bladder, the feet up
to the carpal and tarsal joints, and, in the case of lactating animals,
animals that have given birth or are in advanced pregnancy, the udder
and by the removal of the kidneys from their fatty and perirenal
coverings;
(ii) in the case of swine by the removal of the tonsils, the hair and
bristles (where the bristles are removed by using a debristling agent
the carcase must immediately afterwards be rinsed in water which is
clean and wholesome) or the skin, the claws, the viscera (save that the
lungs, the heart, the liver, the spleen, the mediastinum and the kidneys
may remain attached to the carcase by their natural connections), the
genital organs (subject to regulation 8(3) of the Meat Inspection
Regulations 1987), the urinary bladder, and, in the case of lactating
animals, animals that have given birth or are in advanced pregnancy, the
udder and by the removal of the kidneys from their fatty and perirenal
coverings;
(iii) in the case of sheep and goats, by the removal of tonsils, the skin
(including that of the head except where the head is to be discarded
pursuant to regulation 8(3) of the Meat Inspection Regulations 1987),
the head (save that where retention of the ears on carcases of sheep is
necessary for any certification purpose removal may be delayed until
completion of the certification), the viscera (save that the lungs, the
heart, the liver, the spleen, the mediastinum and the kidneys may remain
attached to the carcase by their natural connections), the genital
organs (subject to regulation 8(3) of the Meat Inspection Regulations
1987), the urinary bladder, the feet up to the carpal and tarsal joints,
and, in the case of lactating animals, animals that have given birth or
are in advanced pregnancy, the udder and by the removal of the kidneys
from their fatty covering;
(e) evisceration is carried out immediately and completed not later than
45 minutes after stunning, or in the case of ritual slaughter, not later
than 30 minutes after bleeding or, in the case of any undressed and bled
carcase brought into a slaughterhouse in accordance with regulation
19(3), without delay;
(f) subject to regulation 8(3) of the Meat Inspection Regulations 1987,
the organs and viscera (other than the feet) of any animal are so kept
as to remain readily identifiable with the carcase until that carcase
has been inspected in accordance with regulation 10(1) of, and Schedule
1 to, the Meat Inspection Regulations 1987 and any samples required for
residue tests under the Animals and Fresh Meat (Examination for
Residues) Regulations 1988[5]
have been taken, and the feet of any animal are kept
available for inspection in the slaughterhouse until an authorised
officer authorises their removal;
(g) where back bleeding ensues upon the slaughter of an animal the
pleura are not completely detached from the carcase until an authorised
officer authorises the removal of the pleura;
(h) slaughtered animals are dressed and treated in such a manner as not
to prevent or hinder inspection in accordance with regulation 10(1) of,
and Schedule 1 to, the Meat Inspection Regulations 1987 and in
particular no carcase is cut up and, subject to regulation 8(3) of the
Meat Inspection Regulations 1987, no part other than the hide or skin of
any slaughtered animal is removed from the slaughterhouse until the
inspection has been completed and any samples required for residue tests
under the Animals and Fresh Meat (Examinations for Residues) Regulations
1988 have been taken, and no action is taken which might alter or
destroy any evidence of disease before inspection;
(i) here the blood of several animals is collected in one receptacle the
entire contents of that receptacle are regarded as unfit for human
consumption if the meat of any of the animals from which the blood was
collected is declared unfit for human consumption; and
(j) no implement is left in the meat."
3. The Meat Inspection Regulations 1987 shall be amended as
follows—
(a) regulation 6 (dressing of carcases) shall be omitted; and
(b) in regulation 16(a) (responsibility for securing compliance with
certain provisions of the regulations) the number"6"
shall be omitted.
In witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on 8th April 1991.
Trumpington
Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
These Regulations amend the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations
1977 (as amended) by— (1) providing that the requirement in the 1977 Regulations for a
slaughterhouse to contain suitable and sufficient covered accommodation
and facilities apart from the slaughterhall and hanging space for the
emptying and cleaning of stomachs and intestines shall not apply in the
case of a slaughterhouse in which such operations are carried out by
means of closed-circuit mechanical equipment, the construction and
operation of which meets certain specified standards (regulations 2(a)
and (b)); and
(2) requiring the occupier of a slaughterhouse, other than a
slaughterhouse approved under the Fresh Meat Export (Hygiene and
Inspection) Regulations 1987 for the purpose of producing fresh meat for
export to other Member States, to comply with certain specified
practices relating to the slaughter of animals and the dressing of
carcases similar to those which already apply in the case of such an
export slaughterhouse by virtue of those Regulations (regulation 2(c)).
The Regulations also revoke provisions relating to the dressing of
carcases contained in the Meat Inspection Regulations 1987 (regulation
3).