CELEX: 51981PC0107
Language: en
Date: 1981-03-16
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING DIRECTIVE 71/118/EEC ON HEALTH PROBLEMS AFFECTING TRADE IN FRESH POULTRYMEAT

No C 97/12                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                  29.4.81
                Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 71/118/EEC on health problems
                                                affecting trade in fresh poultrymeat
                                 (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 19 March 1981)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                            HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
COMMUNITIES,
                                                                                                Article 1
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community, and in particular
                                                                       Directive 71/118/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                     1. The following paragraph is inserted in Article 4:
                                                                          '1 a) The number of official veterinarians and
Having regard to the opinion of the European                                    assistants employed in each establishment
Parliament,                                                                     must be sufficient to ensure that all the
                                                                                supervisory and inspection requirements of
                                                                                this Directive are met, in particular the ante-
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                                and post-mortem inspection requirements of
Social Committee,                                                               Chapters IV and VI of Annex I.
                                                                                The      time   provided    for    post-mortem
Whereas, in view of the differences obtaining in the                            inspection of each bird must be sufficient to
Member States as regards the practical application of                           ensure effective inspection in accordance
Council Directive 71/118/EEC ('), as last amended                               with the requirements of Chapter VI of
by Directive 80/216/EEC (2), in connection with                                 Annex I; in particular sufficient time must be
health inspection and health controls, it is necessary                          allowed to permit inspection of all parts of
to incorporate into the present text certain additional                         each bird. In all cases the number of birds
standards;                                                                      which may be inspected by one person
                                                                                designated for the purpose may not exceed
                                                                                the relevant figure indicated in paragraph
Whereas, given the introduction of the new                                      31a of Chapter VI of Annex I. Ip may be
provisions concerning health controls and inspections                           decided, if necessary, to amend or extend the
and in view of the fact that in certain Member States                           provisions of paragraph 31a of Chapter VI in
the production of drawn poultrymeat is still                                    accordance with the procedure laid down in
important, the date on which the derogation relating                            Article 12a, in order to take account of
to slaughter and evisceration comes to an end should                            changes in the health status of poultry in the
be postponed;                                                                   Community and of technical progress.
                                                                                At least whilst slaughter is taking place, the
Whereas, to prevent major disparities such as might                             official veterinarian mentioned in paragraph
distort competition, the systems for financing the                               1 must be present in the slaughterhouse.
costs of health controls and inspection should be                               However, in accordance with the procedure
standardized;                                                                   laid down in Article 12a, special provisions
                                                                                may be adopted as regards the presence of
                                                                                the official veterinarian during slaughterings
                                                                                for slaughterhouses having a slaughter
Whereas a procedure ensuring close cooperation
                                                                                capacity not exceeding 1 500 poultry per
between the Member States and the Commission
                                                                                day.'
should be set up for taking decisions relating in
particular to the changes of the maximum number of
birds which may be inspected in one hour by one
veterinarian or by one assistant,
                                                                       2. The following paragraph is added to Article 4:
                                                                           '4.   All costs resulting from the inspections and
(') O J N o L 5 5 , 8. 3. 1971, p. 23.                                     health controls provided for in paragraph 1,
O OJ No L47, 21. 2. 1980, p. 8.                                            including those resulting from the inspections and
 ---pagebreak--- 29.4.81                           Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 97/13
   the controls carried out in the slaughterhouses                        — the viscera; intestines, proventriculus,
   referred to in the second sentence of the third                            gizzards, liver, spleen, heart, lungs,
   subparagraph of paragraph la, shall be charged at                          kidneys       and,   where      applicable,
   a standard rate to the product without                                     testicles, ovaries and oviduct,
   reimbursement from public funds.'
                                                                          — the cavities of the carcase;
3. In the first sentence of Article 5a, the phrase                    (b) where necessary, palpation and incision of
   'particularly those of Chapters I, II and III of                       the slaughtered bird,
   Annex Y is replaced by the phrase 'particularly
   those of Chapters I, II, III, IV and VI of Annex I'.               (c) investigation       of    abnormalities      in
                                                                          consistency, colour,      smell and, where
                                                                          appropriate, taste,
4. In Article 16a (a):
                                                                      (d) where necessary, laboratory tests.
   — in the third indent, '15 August 1981' is replaced
        by'15 August 1986',
                                                                  31. The post-mortem inspection must be carried
   — the following text is added after the last                       out in suitable light; there must be adequate
       sentence of the final indent:                                  space for the post-mortem inspection.
       'Furthermore,       they shall send to the                     (a) As regards post mortem inspection, the
       Commission each year a report on any changes                       number of birds that may be inspected by
       in their country as regards derogations relating                   one officially designated person shall not
       to slaughtering and evisceration; this report                      exceed the following figures:
       should reflect the gradual decline in the
       number of slaughterhouses benefiting from the                      — 1 200 per hour in the case of table
       derogation, the aim being to arrive at the                             chickens and guinea fowl;
       application, not later than 15 August 1986, of                     —     600 per hour in the case of laying
       the provisions of the Directive on slaughtering                        hens, geese, turkeys and ducks.
       and evisceration to all            slaughterhouses
       throughout their country.'                                         The number of veterinarians and assistants
                                                                          assigned to post-mortem inspections must
                                                                          be sufficient to ensure adequate rest
5. In Chapter V of Annex I, paragraph                23 is
                                                                          periods for all persons involved in this
   amended as follows:
                                                                          inspection.
   — in the third sentence, 'heart' is inserted after
                                                                          In the case of a batch of poultry showing a
       'liver',
                                                                          high incidence of disease, the inspectors
   — the following is inserted at the end of the third                    must spend more time on the post-mortem
       sentence: 'If the viscera are detached, it must                    inspection.'
       be possible to identify the caracase to which
       they belong, and they must remain in close
       proximity to the carcase until the completion of                                Article 2
       inspection.'
                                                              Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu-
6. Chapter VI is replaced by the following:                   lations and administrative provisions necessary to
                                                              comply with this Directive
                        'CHAPTER VI
                                                             — not later than 15 July 1981 as regards the
                   Post-Mortem Inspection                         provisions of Article 1 (4);
                                                             — not later than 15 August 1982 as regards the other
   29. All parts of the bird must be             inspected
                                                                  provisions.
        immediately after slaughter.
                                                              They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
   30. The post-mortem inspection must include:
        (a) visual inspection of the slaughtered bird;
             in particular the examination of:
                                                                                        Article 3
            — the outer surface of           the   carcase
                 including head and legs,                     This Directive is addressed to the Member States.