The Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995

PART IVCONDITIONS FOR THE MARKETING OF FRESH MEAT

General conditions

14.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (5) and (6) below, no person shall at any time sell for human consumption any fresh meat unless—

(a)it has been obtained from licensed premises;

(b)it comes from a bird or rabbit which has been subjected to a pre-slaughter health inspection in accordance with Schedule 7 and which, following such inspection, has been passed as fit for slaughter for human consumption and has been slaughtered thereafter;

(c)it has been chilled and prepared under hygienic conditions in accordance with Schedule 8;

(d)it comes from the body of a bird or rabbit which has been subjected to a post-mortem health inspection in accordance with Schedule 9 and which has shown no evidence of disease or other abnormal condition except for localised lesions or contaminations which have been removed and which do not render the remainder of the carcase unfit for human consumption;

(e)it has been given a health mark in accordance with Schedule 11;

(f)it is accompanied during transportation by either—

(i)a health certificate; or

(ii)an invoice or delivery note,

in accordance with regulation 15;

(g)if it has been stored in any licensed premises, it has been stored in accordance with Schedule 12;

(h)if it is wrapped or packaged, it has been wrapped or packaged under hygienic conditions in accordance with Schedule 13; and

(i)if it has been transported to, or from, any licensed premises, it has been transported under hygienic conditions in accordance with Schedule 14.

(2) Subject to paragraph (5) and, where appropriate, paragraphs (7) and (9) below, no person shall sell for human consumption—

(a)fresh meat which—

(i)has been treated with an antibiotic or tenderiser;

(ii)has been marked with a colourant other than in accordance with regulation 12(2) and Schedule 11;

(iii)has been treated with a preservative other than a permitted preservative; or

(iv)has been cooled, immediately after evisceration and post-mortem health inspection, by means of immersion in water which is not in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 10 and 11 of Schedule 8;

(b)poultry meat which has not been eviscerated or has been obtained from the body of any bird which has not been eviscerated; or

(c)rabbit meat or farmed game meat which has been treated with ionizing or ultra-violet radiation.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4) below, no person shall consign or sell for consignment to a relevant EEA State for human consumption—

(a)fresh meat produced in low throughput premises;

(b)fresh meat cut up in low throughput cutting premises;

(c)fresh meat which has been marked in accordance with paragraph 6 of Schedule 11;

(d)rabbit meat or farmed game meat which has been treated with ionizing or ultra-violet radiation;

(e)farmed game meat which has not been eviscerated or has been obtained from the body of any bird which has not been eviscerated; or

(f)fresh meat which has been obtained from a specified group subject to a programme for the control of infectious disease.

(4) Paragraph (3) above shall not apply to meat forming part of travellers' luggage and not intended for resale or to meat sent as small packages to private persons.

(5) Paragraphs (1) and (2) above shall not apply to fresh meat imported from a relevant EEA State or a third country, save that such imported fresh meat shall be handled and transported in accordance with these Regulations.

(6) Without prejudice to regulation 23 of the Food Hygiene (Markets, Stalls and Delivery Vehicles) Regulations 1966(1) (transport of meat), paragraph (1)(i) above shall not apply in relation to the transportation of any fresh meat from any licensed premises, on sale, direct to the final consumer or to a retailer in Great Britain.

(7) Paragraph (2)(b) above shall not apply until 1st May 1997 to the sale for human consumption of uneviscerated poultry meat, in the form of whole bodies, by an occupier of premises who was lawfully engaged in the sale of such uneviscerated poultry from those premises before 1st May 1994.

(8) Without prejudice to regulation 12(3)(c), the requirements as to slaughter and evisceration specified in Schedule 8 shall not apply in relation to the production for sale in Great Britain of partially eviscerated or non-eviscerated farmed game birds in a slaughterhouse or cutting premises—

(a)lawfully engaged in such production before 24th September 1991; and

(b)to the occupier of which, at the request of such occupier, the Minister has granted in writing an exemption from those requirements in pursuance of Article 9 of Council Directive 91/495/EEC.

(9) Paragraph (2)(b) above shall not apply to partly eviscerated poultry (“effilé”).

Transport documentation

15.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3) below, the occupier of licensed premises shall ensure that fresh meat is accompanied during transportation from those premises by—

(a)in the case of fresh meat intended for consignment to a relevant EEA State—

(i)which will be transported through a third country in a sealed means of transport, or

(ii)which is obtained from a slaughterhouse situated in a region or area subject to a prohibition or restriction under the Animal Health Act 1981(1),

a health certificate in the form specified in Schedule 18 or Schedule 19, as appropriate;

(b)in the case of fresh meat intended for consignment to a relevant EEA State, a region thereof or a region of Northern Ireland which is recognised in accordance with Article 12(2) of Council Directive 90/539/EEC(2)(b), as amended(3), in relation to its Newcastle disease status, the health certificate in the form specified in Schedule 18;

(c)in any other case, by an invoice or delivery note containing the following information:

(i)the name and address of the consignor and the consignee;

(ii)the approval number of the premises from which the meat is to be transported;

(iii)the date of issue of such invoice or delivery note and a number enabling it to be identified;

(iv)a description of the product transported;

(v)the total quantity despatched; and

(vi)the particulars provided for in paragraphs 1 and 4 of Schedule 11.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3) below, any person who receives fresh meat direct from any licensed premises shall keep the invoice or delivery note referred to in paragraph (1)(c) above for a period of at least one year from the date of receipt.

(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) above shall not apply where the fresh meat is being transported from licensed premises direct to the final consumer or to a retailer in Great Britain.