Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

• (ii) cutting up takes place, in the case of fresh meat of bovine animals, within 48 hours from the end of slaughtering operations or, in the case of fresh meat of sheep and swine, within 20 hours from the end of slaughtering operations;

• (iii) as soon as cutting up, wrapping and packaging are completed the fresh meat is placed immediately in the refrigerated room and is brought progressively to an internal temperature of not more than +7°C for carcases and cuts and +3°C for offal; and

• (iv) the time between the fresh meat entering the cutting room and being placed in the refrigerated room does not exceed 60 minutes.

SCHEDULE 12 — Health Marking

1

Subject to paragraphs 2 and 7 the health mark shall consist of an oval mark 6.5 cm wide by 4.5 cm high containing in legible form in letters 0.8 cm high and figures 1 cm high the following information—

• (a) on the upper part, the letters “UK”;

• (b) in the centre, the approval number of the premises; and

• (c) on the lower part, the letters “EEC”;

and in addition, for fresh meat from boars and male swine used for breeding or cryptorchid or hermaphrodite swine, the oval mark shall be covered along the main diameter by two parallel straight lines as evident as the external edge of the mark with a distance apart of at least 1.0 cm.

2

Subject to paragraph 7, in the case of the fresh meat referred to in Regulation 12(3) the health mark shall consist of a square mark 5.5 cm by 5.5 cm containing in legible form in letters 0.8 cm high and figures 1 cm high the following information—

• (a) on the upper part, the letters “UK”;

• (b) in the centre, the approval number of the premises; and

• (c) on the lower part, the letter “N”.

3

• (1) Carcases weighing more than 65 kg shall have the health mark applied legibly in ink or hot-branded on each half carcase in at least the following places— external surface of the thigh, loins, back, breast and shoulder.

• (2) Lamb, kid and piglet carcases shall have the health mark applies in at least two places, one on each side of the carcase, on the shoulder or on the external surface of the thigh, and such health mark may be in the form of a label or tag, to be used only once.

• (3) Other carcases shall have the health mark applied in ink or hot-branded in at least the following places— on the shoulders and on the external surface of the thighs.

4

Livers (including sliced livers) of bovine animals, swine and solipeds other than wrapped or packaged livers which are not intended for another Member State or an EEA State shall be hot-branded with the health mark and all other offal, unless it is wrapped or packaged in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 13, shall have the health mark applied in ink or hot-branded: save that, in the case of bovine animals under three months old, and swine, sheep and goats, health marking of tongues and hearts shall not be compulsory.

5

Cuts of fresh meat shall have the health mark applied in ink or hot branded unless—

• (a) they are wrapped or packaged in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 13; or

• (b) they are not wrapped or packaged but come from low throughput premises.

6

No colour shall be used for marking fresh meat in accordance with this Schedule if it would be contrary to the Colours in Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996[^f00031].

7

In the case of the health marking of fresh meat from lambs, kids or piglets, the dimensions and characters of the health mark may be reduced.

SCHEDULE 13 — Wrapping and Packaging of Meat

Part 1 — Wrapping

1

The occupier of any premises shall ensure that—

• (a) any material for wrapping fresh meat does not cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics of such meat or transmit to it any substance harmful to human health;

• (b) subject to paragraph 2, only transparent and uncoloured wrapping material is used except where the wrapping material used conforms to the requirements of sub-paragraph (e);

• (c) the wrapping operation is carried out immediately after cutting and in a hygienic manner and that wrapping material is not re-used for wrapping fresh meat;

• (d) cut fresh meat, other than cuts of pig belly and pork fat, is wrapped in accordance with sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) unless it is transported hanging up;

• (e) wrapped fresh meat is packed in accordance with the requirements of Part II of this Schedule save that where the wrapping material used fulfils the requirement of packaging in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1(a), (b) and (c) of Part II of this Schedule, it does not in addition require to be packaged;

• (f) all fresh meat wrapped in commercial portions intended for direct sale to the consumer bears the health mark, which may be of reduced dimensions, on the wrapping material or in a clearly visible label affixed to the wrapping material; and

• (g) only livers, kidneys or hearts of the same species are packaged together.

2

Paragraph 1(b) does not apply in the case of frozen meat intended to be used without further processing as a raw material for the products referred to in Council Directives 77/99 EEC and 88/657/EEC[^f00032].

Part II — Packaging

1

The occupier of any premises shall ensure—

• (a) that any material used for packaging fresh meat is strong enough to protect the meat during the course of handling and transport and does not cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics of the meat or transmit to it any substance harmful to human health, save that wood may be used only in the case of lamb and kid carcases where all reasonable precautions are taken to prevent contact between the meat and the wood packaging in the event of a tear in the wrapping;

• (b) that any material used for packaging fresh meat is not re-used for this purpose unless it is made of a non-corrodible and impervious substance which is easy to clean and has been cleaned and disinfected prior to re-use for packaging meat;

• (c) that every package bears the health mark either on the package or on a clearly visible label affixed to the package or wrapping material which fulfils the requirements of paragraph 1(f) of Part I;

• (d) where meat is re-packaged in a plant other than that in which it was first wrapped, the wrapping shall bear the health mark of the cutting plant where it was first wrapped and the packaging shall bear the health mark of the re-packaging centre; and

• (e) that the health mark is applied in such a way that it is torn when the package is opened, non-destruction of the mark being permissible only where the packaging itself is destroyed on opening.

2

The occupier of every slaughterhouse or farmed game processing facility in which offal is prepared, cleaned, wrapped and packaged in the same room in accordance with paragraph 1(m) of Schedule 2, paragraph 1(w) of Part II of Schedule 6 and paragraph 1(t) of Part III of Schedule 6 and the occupier of all cutting premises in which fresh meat is cut up, wrapped and packaged in the same room shall ensure that the following conditions are observed—

• (a) the packaging and wrapping materials shall, during storage, be enclosed in a protective cover under hygienic conditions in the separate room provided for this purpose; and such a room shall not be connected in any way with rooms containing substances which might contaminate fresh meat;

• (b) the room in which packaging and wrapping materials are stored shall be free from dust and vermin and such material shall not be stored on the floor;

• (c) packaging material shall be assembled under hygienic conditions before being brought to the room where fresh meat is packaged;

• (d) the place in which fresh meat is packaged shall be sufficiently large and so arranged that the hygiene of operations is assured;

• (e) packaging and wrapping material shall be brought to the room hygienically and shall be used without delay and persons who handle fresh meat shall not handle packaging unless it is non-porous and corrosion-resistant; and

• (f) immediately after wrapping and packaging, the fresh meat shall be placed in the refrigerated room referred to in sub-paragraph 1(i) of Schedule 2 or sub-paragraph 1(a)(ii) of Schedule 3 or sub-paragraph 1(i) of Part I of Schedule 5 or sub-paragraph 1(i) of Part II of Schedule 6 or sub-paragraph 1(h) of Part III of Schedule 6.

SCHEDULE 14 — Storage of Fresh Meat — Requirements applicable in Cold Stores or Re-packaging Centres

1

The occupier of the cold store or re-packaging centre shall ensure that fresh meat is—

• (a) kept at a constant internal temperature of not more than +7°C for carcases and cuts, +3°C for offal and −12°C for frozen fresh meat;

• (b) handled, loaded, unloaded and stored in an hygienic manner and, in particular, that it is loaded and unloaded under cover;

• (c) adequately protected during storage from the risk of contamination including taint;

• (d) identifiable as to origin while it is being stored; and

• (e) made available for inspection on request by a Meat Inspector or OVS.

2

The occupier of the cold store or re-packaging centre shall ensure that—

• (a) where unwrapped fresh meat or fresh meat wrapped only in stockinette is brought into the cold store for freezing it is not stored on wooden pallets and that during freezing it is suspended from either a rail system or suitable frames of a material resistant to corrosion;

• (b) unfit meat is not stored in the same room as other fresh meat;

• (c) unpackaged fresh meat is stored separate from, or at other times than, packaged fresh meat;

• (d) unpackaged fresh meat is stored in a separate room, or at other times than, unpackaged poultry meat, farmed rabbit meat, wild game meat, minced meat, meat preparations, meat products or fresh meat originating from premises operating under a temporary derogation granted by the Department in accordance with Council Directive 91/498/EEC; and

• (e) wild game meat is kept at a temperature which must not at any time exceed −12°C if frozen or, if chilled, +4°C in the case of small wild game and +7°C in the case of large wild game.

SCHEDULE 15 — Freezing of Fresh Meat

1

The occupier of any premises at which fresh meat is to be frozen shall ensure that fresh meat intended for freezing—

• (a) is frozen without delay (which shall not preclude an initial period of stabilisation where appropriate);

• (b) is frozen in a hygienic manner, by a rapid method, using suitable equipment; and, in the case of a slaughterhouse or cutting premises, in rooms in the same premises where it was produced or cut up (as the case may be);

• (c) is frozen so that it reaches an internal temperature of −12°C or lower and is not stored at a higher temperature thereafter; and

• (d) is stamped legibly before freezing so as to indicate the month and year in which it is frozen or a label is attached to it after freezing indicating this or, if fresh meat is packaged or wrapped, the packaging or wrapping in which it is placed after freezing is marked clearly and visibly in such a way as to indicate this.

2

The occupier of any cold store shall ensure that fresh meat intended for freezing in a cold store comes directly from a slaughterhouse, farmed game processing facility or cutting premises.

SCHEDULE 16 — Health Certificate

1

The health certificate which will accompany the fresh meat shall be issued by the OVS at the time when the fresh meat is loaded into the means of transport in which it is to travel.

2

The health certificate shall be provided by the Department and shall correspond in form to, and contain the information specified in, the model in the Annex to this Schedule. It shall be expressed at least in English and, if appropriate, in the language of the country of destination.

ANNEX

SCHEDULE 17 — Transport of Fresh Meat — Requirements applicable to Occupiers or Persons responsible for the Control and Management of Transport

1

Subject to paragraph 1(q) of Schedule 9, fresh meat shall be loaded at a temperature of not more than +7°C for carcases and cuts, +3°C for offal and −12°C for frozen fresh meat and shall be transported in vehicles so designed and equipped that such meat is maintained at those temperatures throughout the period of transport.

2

The interior surfaces of vehicles used for the transport of fresh meat and any other parts of the vehicles which may come into contact with such meat shall be so finished as to enable them effectively to be kept clean and disinfected and shall be constructed of material resistant to corrosion which does not cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics of the meat or render it harmful to human health.

3

• (1) Vehicles used for the transport of fresh meat shall be provided with efficient devices for protecting the meat against the entry of insects and dust and shall be watertight.

• (2) Where such vehicles are used for the transport of carcases, half carcases, quarter carcases and unpackaged cut fresh meat they shall be equipped with fittings of material resistant to corrosion for hanging the meat fixed at such a height that fresh meat cannot come into contact with the floor except that fittings for hanging such meat shall not be required where the meat is transported by aircraft in which suitable facilities resistant to corrosion have been provided for hygienically loading, holding and unloading the meat.

4

Vehicles used for conveying live animals or any substance which may be detrimental to, or contaminate fresh meat, shall not be used for the transport of such meat.

5

Fresh meat shall not be transported in the same vehicle at the same time as any other product likely to affect the hygiene of such meat or to contaminate it unless it is transported in such a manner that it will not contaminate the meat; and packaged meat shall not be transported in the same vehicle and at the same time as unpackaged meat unless an adequate physical separation is provided so as to protect unpackaged meat from packaged meat.

6

Stomachs shall be scalded or cleaned and feet and heads skinned or scalded and depilated before being transported in a vehicle containing other fresh meat.

7

Fresh meat shall not be transported in vehicles which are not properly cleaned and disinfected.

8

Carcases, half carcases, wholesale cuts of half carcases and quarter carcases, other than frozen fresh meat packaged in a hygienic manner, shall be suspended throughout the period of transport except where such meat is transported by aircraft in which suitable facilities resistant to corrosion have been provided for hygienically loading, holding and unloading fresh meat; other cuts and offal, other than the viscera, shall be hung or placed on supports if not placed in packages of material resistant to corrosion; and the supports shall be clean and corrosion-resistant and packaging shall meet the requirements of Schedule 13.

9

The viscera may only be transported in strong, clean and impervious lidded containers or packages which may only be re-used after being cleaned and disinfected.

SCHEDULE 18 — Model Declaration to accompany an animal for slaughter known or suspected to be diseased or injured

SCHEDULE 19 — Certificate under Regulation 18(2)

Part I

Part II

Part III

SCHEDULE 20 — Certificate of Ante-Mortem Health Inspection and Slaughter of Farmed Game

Part I

Part II

Part III

SCHEDULE 21 — Repeals and revocations

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture on

Liam McKibben — Assistant Secretary — 13th November 1997.

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations give effect to Council Directive 91/497/EEC (OJ No. L.268, 24.9.91, p. 69) which amends and updates Directive 64/433/EEC on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in fresh meat to extend it to the production and marketing of fresh meat, and in part to Council Directive 91/495/EEC (O.J. No. L.268, 24.9.91, p. 41) concerning public health and animal health problems affecting the production and the placing on the market of farmed game meat and Council Directive 92/45/EEC (O.J. No. L.268, 16.6.92, p. 35) on public health and animal health problems relating to the killing of wild game and the placing on the market of wild game meat.

The Regulations do not apply to premises where fresh meat is used exclusively for the production of meat products, meat preparations, minced meat and mechanically recovered meat or to premises where fresh meat is cut up or repackaged for sale to the final consumer from those premises or to premises used for carcase competitions or to cold stores (subject to specified restrictions); fresh meat intended for exhibitions, special studies or analysis, or for sale to international organisations; and fresh meat not intended for human consumption (regulation 3).

Slaughterhouses, cutting premises, re-packaging centres, cold stores, farmed game handling facilities and farmed game processing facilities must have a current licence issued by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (“the Department”). Such a licence will be issued only if the premises comply with the prescribed requirements as to structure and hygiene (regulation 4). There are different structural requirements for low throughput slaughterhouses, cutting premises and farmed game processing facilities (regulation 4(2); Schedule 5 and Part III of Schedule 6). The slaughter of farmed game at a farmed game handling facility is permitted subject to certain conditions (regulation 4(2) and Part I of Schedule 6).

A licence may be refused or revoked subject to a right of appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction (regulations 4 and 5).

Slaughterhouses and farmed game handling facilities may not be used for the slaughter of animals not intended for human consumption except in specified circumstances (regulation 6(3)).

There will be veterinary supervision of all licensed premises. The Department will appoint designated official veterinary surgeons and Meat Inspectors to supervise licensed premises (regulation 7). The Department may revoke or suspend the designation of an official veterinary surgeon who is deemed to be unfit to perform his duties (regulation 8).

Official veterinary surgeons may prohibit the use of equipment or the use of part of the premises or reduce the rate of operations and a person aggrieved by such a decision may appeal (regulation 9).

The requirement to apply the health mark applies to fresh meat produced in all licensed premises. The Department is required to provide the health marking equipment and to arrange for the mark to be applied to fresh meat which has been passed as fit for human consumption (regulation 10(2)). Times of operation of licensed premises are controlled (regulation 11).

Fresh meat may not be sold or offered for sale for human consumption unless it has been obtained from licensed premises, has met the hygiene requirements specified in the Schedules and is accompanied by a commercial document or health certificate (regulations 12 and 13).

An official veterinary surgeon or a Meat Inspector can in certain circumstances prohibit the slaughter or the dressing of an animal in a slaughterhouse (regulation 14), and an official veterinary surgeon may permit an animal to be kept in a lairage in exceptional circumstances for more than 72 hours (regulation 15). Conditions are laid down regarding the documentation to accompany a diseased or injured animal to a slaughterhouse (regulation 16); similarly, specified conditions must be complied with before a dead or slaughtered animal is brought into a slaughterhouse (regulation 17).

The Department must keep records in respect of inspections (regulation 18) and the occupier of licensed premises must also keep specified records (regulation 19).

The Regulations create offences and prescribe penalties (regulation 20), apply various Articles of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (regulation 21), make provision for fresh meat produced in Great Britain or the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands (regulation 23) and contain amendments, repeals and revocations (regulations 24 and 25).

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1991/762 (N.I. 7) as amended by S.I. 1996/1633 (N.I. 12). See Article 2(2) for the definitions of “the Department concerned” and “regulations”

[^f00002]: S.I. 1972/1811

[^f00003]: 1972 c. 68

[^f00004]: O.J. No. L.1, 3.1.94, p.1

[^f00005]: O.J. No. L.1, 3.1.94, p.571

[^f00006]: O.J. No. L.148, 28.6.68, p. 24

[^f00007]: O.J. No. L.126, 31.1.77, p. 85 as amended by Council Directive 92/5/EEC O.J. No. L.57, 2.3.92, p. 8 and 19

[^f00008]: S.R. 1995 No. 360, the relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1997 No. 494, S.R. 1997 No. 495 and S.R. 1997 No. 496

[^f00009]: 1983 c. 54

[^f00010]: S.R. 1997 No. 496

[^f00011]: S.I. 1981/1115 (N.I. 22)

[^f00012]: 1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

[^f00013]: O.J. No. L.268, 24.4.91, p. 105

[^f00014]: S.R. 1996 No. 558

[^f00015]: S.R. 1987 No. 141

[^f00016]: O.J. No. L.121, 29.7.1964, as amended and updated by Council Directives 91/497/EEC O.J. No. L.268 24.9.91, 92/5/EEC O.J. No. L.57,2.3.92, 95/23/EC O.J. No. L.243 11.10.95 and Council Decision 95/1/EC O.J. No. L.1 1.1.95

[^f00017]: S.I. 1981/1115 (N.I. 22)

[^f00018]: O.J. No. L.268, 24.4.91, p. 69

[^f00019]: S.R. 1992 No. 167; the relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1994 No. 346, S.R. 1995 No. 396, S.R. 1997 No. 494, S.R. 1997 No. 495 and S.R. 1997 No. 496

[^f00020]: S.R. 1995 No. 377 the relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1997 No. 495

[^f00021]: S.R. 1995 No. 431

[^f00022]: S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1963 No. 162

[^f00023]: S.R. 1984 No. 402

[^f00024]: S.R. 1988 No. 60

[^f00025]: S.R. 1991 No. 5

[^f00026]: S.R. 1991 No. 158

[^f00027]: O.J. No. L.224, 18.8.90, p. 29

[^f00028]: S.R. 1992 No. 39

[^f00029]: O.J. No. L.26, 31.1.77, p. 67

[^f00030]: O.J. No. L.243, 11.10.95, p. 21

[^f00031]: S.R. 1996 No. 49

[^f00032]: O.J. No. L.382, 31.12.88, p. 3