Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1995/540 |
1995 No. 540
FOOD
The Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995
Made 28th February 1995
Laid before Parliament 9th March 1995
Coming into force 1st April 1995
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Wales, acting jointly, in relation to England and Wales, and the Secretary of State for Scotland, in relation to Scotland, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 5(6), 6(4), 16(1)(b), (c), (d), (e) and (f), (2)(a) and (3), 17(1), 19(1)(b), 26, 37(2), 48(1) and 49(2) of, and paragraphs 5(1), (2)(a) and (3), 6(1)(a), 7(1) and (2) of Schedule 1 to, the Food Safety Act 19901and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State, being Ministers designated2for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19723in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by the said section 2(2) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, after consultation in accordance with section 48(4) of the said Act of 1990 with such organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests likely to be substantially affected by the Regulations (in so far as the Regulations are made in exercise of the powers conferred by the said provisions of the said Act of 1990) hereby make the following Regulations:—
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Title and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 1st April 1995.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
“the Act” means the Food Safety Act 1990;
“the 1994 Regulations” means the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 19944;
“batch” means a quantity of meat of the same species and type produced by or obtained from the same production run and from the same flock of origin;
“birds” means poultry or farmed game birds;
“carcase” means—
(a) in relation to birds, the whole body of a bird after bleeding, plucking and evisceration, whether or not the heart, liver, lungs, gizzard, crop, kidneys, legs at the tarsus, head, oesophagus or trachea have been removed; and
(b) in relation to rabbits, the whole body of a rabbit after bleeding, skinning and evisceration, whether or not the limbs at the carpus and tarsus, head or tail have been removed;
“cold store” means any premises, not forming part of a slaughterhouse, cutting premises or a re-wrapping centre, used for the storage, under temperature controlled conditions, of fresh meat intended for sale for human consumption;
“contravention” in relation to any provision of these Regulations includes a failure to comply with that provision, and “contravenes” has a corresponding meaning;
“Council Directive 71/118/EEC” means Council Directive 71/118/EEC5on health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of fresh poultrymeat, as amended and updated by Council Directive 92/116/EEC6(c);
“Council Directive 91/495/EEC” means Council Directive 91/495/EEC7concerning public health and animal health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of rabbit meat and farmed game meat, as amended by Council Directive 92/65/EEC8;
“country of destination” means the relevant EEA State to which fresh meat is sent from another EEA State;
“cutting premises” means premises used for the purpose of cutting up fresh meat intended for sale for human consumption;
“cutting up” means cutting carcases into smaller cuts or removing bones from carcases or parts of carcases;
“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area9signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by the Protocol10signed at Brussels on 17 March 1993;
“EEA State” means a State which is a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement but, until the EEA Agreement comes into force in relation to Liechtenstein, does not include the State of Liechtenstein;
“farmed game birds” means birds, including ratites, but excluding poultry, which are not generally considered domestic but which are bred, reared and slaughtered in captivity;
“farmed game meat” means the meat of farmed game birds;
“final consumer” means a person who buys fresh meat—
(a) otherwise than for the purpose of resale;
(b) for direct transport to, and consumption on, premises either in his ownership or under his personal supervision or in the ownership or under the personal supervision of a person employed by him; or
(c) for cooking on premises either in his ownership or under his personal supervision or in the ownership or under the personal supervision of a person employed by him for sale as take-away food for consumption off those premises;
“fresh”, as applied to meat, means all meat, including chilled or frozen meat, which has not undergone any preserving process and includes meat vacuum wrapped or wrapped in a controlled atmosphere;
“health mark” means a mark of a kind set out in Schedule 11 and applied in accordance with regulation 12 and that Schedule;
“inspector” means a person who—
(a) has a qualification specified in Schedule 16; and
(b) is appointed as an inspector in accordance with regulation 8(2);
“licensed”, in relation to any slaughterhouse, cutting premises, cold store or re-wrapping centre, means licensed by the Minister under regulation 4, and “licence”has a corresponding meaning;
“local market” means a market held in the same locality as, or in a neighbouring locality to, that in which the premises in question are situated;
“locality” means the area comprised within the boundary of—
(a) in relation to England:
(i) a metropolitan county named in Part I or a non-metropolitan county named in Part II of Schedule 1 to the Local Government Act 197211
(ii) the Isles of Scilly, which shall be regarded as one locality; or
(iii) Greater London, as defined in section 2(1) of the London Government Act 196312;
(b) in relation to Wales, a preserved county named in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Local Government Act 197213, save that the counties of Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and West Glamorgan shall be regarded as one locality; and
(c) in relation to Scotland, a region named in Part I or an islands area named in Part II of Schedule 1 to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 197314,
subject, in relation to a county in England or Wales or a London borough comprised within the area of Greater London referred to in this definition, to any alterations made under Part IV of the Local Government Act 1972, and, in relation to a region in Scotland, to any alterations made under Part II of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973;
“low throughput”—
(a) in relation to a slaughterhouse, means a throughput of not more than 150,000 birds or 300,000 rabbits each year;
(b) in relation to cutting premises, means a production of not more than 3 tonnes of cut up fresh meat each week;
“meat” means all parts of a bird or rabbit which are fit for human consumption;
“occupier” means any person carrying on the business of a slaughterhouse, cutting premises, a cold store or a re-wrapping centre (either separately or together) or his duly authorised representative and, in relation to an application in respect of any such premises for a licence under regulation 4, includes the owner of those premises, the person proposing to occupy those premises and the duly authorised representative of any such person;
“offal” means fresh meat other than that of the carcase, whether or not naturally connected to the carcase, including the head and feet where these are presented separate from the carcase;
“official veterinary surgeon” means a veterinary surgeon designated by the Minister under regulation 8;
“packaging”, in relation to fresh meat, means the placing of fresh meat in a container, as well as the container itself;
“permitted preservative” means a preservative the use of which in foodstuffs is permitted under the Preservatives in Food Regulations 198915and the Preservatives in Food (Scotland) Regulations 198916;
“plant inspection assistant” means a person who is authorised in accordance with regulation 11;
“post-mortem health inspection” means the inspection of slaughtered birds or rabbits in accordance with Schedule 9;
“poultry” means domestic fowls, turkeys, guinea fowls, ducks and geese;
“poultry meat” means the meat of poultry;
“pre-slaughter health inspection” means the inspection of live birds or rabbits in accordance with Schedule 7;
“premises” means any slaughterhouse, cutting premises, cold store or re-wrapping centre or a combination of some or all such premises;
“producer” means the person who owns or is in charge of any birds or rabbits and the duly authorised representative of any such person;
“production report” means the report referred to in paragraph 1(b)(ii) of Schedule 7;
“rabbit” means a domestic rabbit, and “rabbit meat” shall be construed accordingly;
“relevant EEA State” means an EEA State other than Iceland;
“re-wrapping centre” means any premises, other than a slaughterhouse, cutting premises or cold store, where consignments of fresh meat intended for sale are packaged, wrapped or re-wrapped;
“slaughterhouse” means any building, premises or place for slaughtering birds or rabbits, the flesh of which is intended for sale for human consumption, and includes any place available in connection therewith for the confinement of birds or rabbits awaiting slaughter there;
“small wild game” has the same meaning as in Article 2(1)(c) of Council Directive 92/45/EEC17on public health and animal health problems relating to the killing of wild game and the placing on the market of wild-game meat;
“specified...
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