FOOD PART I INTRODUCTORY Citation, extent, commencement and application 1 1 These Regulations, which may be cited as the Food (Meat Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 1988, shall apply to Scotland and shall come into force on 1st November 1988. 2 Regulation 3 of theseRegulations shall not apply to the areas described in Schedule 1. Interpretation 2 1 In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires— “animal” means a domestic animal of the following species: bovine animals (including buffalo), swine, sheep, goats, solipeds and farmed deer; “ante-mortem health inspection” means inspection of live animals in a slaughterhouse in accordance with the requirements of regulation 3 and Schedule 2; “blood” means blood intended for human consumption derived from an animal; “carcase” means the whole body of a slaughtered animal after bleeding and dressing; “casualty animal” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 7(1) of these Regulations; “examine in detail” means to examine by making multiple deep incisions into lymph nodes; “farmed deer” means any deer which— are kept by any person by way of business on land enclosed by a deer proof barrier; are conspicuously marked in such a way as to identify them as his; and are kept by him— primarily for the purpose of the production of meat or other foodstuffs or skins or other by-products; or primarily for breeding deer to be kept as mentioned in subparagraph (i) above; “health mark” means a mark made by or under the supervision and responsibility of an inspector in accordance with regulation 6 and of a kind and in the manner set out in Schedule 4; “inspector” means a veterinary meat inspector or a meat inspector; “local authority” means the council of an islands area or district and, in relation to any land or premises, means the local authority within whose area the land or premises is or are situated; “meat” means the flesh or other edible part of animals; “meat inspector” means any person holding one of the qualifications set out in Schedule 6 and employed as a meat inspector by a local authority under regulation 14(1); “offal” means meat other than that of the carcase whether or not naturally connected to the carcase; “post-mortem health inspection” means inspection of slaughtered animals in a slaughterhouse in accordance with the requirements of regulation 5 and Schedule 3; “private slaughterhouse” means a slaughterhouse other than a public slaughterhouse; “public slaughterhouse” means any slaughterhouse, slaughtering in which is carried out by, or is under the effective control of, a local authority; “slaughter”, in relation to any animal, means the killing of that animal with intent that the meat or blood to be derived from it shall be sold for human consumption, and “slaughtered” shall be construed accordingly; “slaughterhouse” means any premises used for slaughtering animals, the flesh of which is intended for sale for human consumption and includes any place used in connection therewith; “veterinary meat inspector” means any veterinary surgeon who is appointed an inspector of meat for the purposes of these Regulations or any person appointed under regulation 13(2) to exercise the functions of a veterinary meat inspector; “veterinary surgeon” means a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons; “viscera” means offal from the thoracic, abdominal and pelvic cavities, including the trachea and oesophagus. 2 Except insofar as the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule shall be construed as a reference to the regulation or Schedule bearing that number in these Regulations. PART II INSPECTION AND HEALTH MARKETING Ante-mortem inspections 3 1 Subject to paragraph (2) of this regulation, every animal which is to be slaughtered in a slaughterhouse shall be subjected to an ante-mortem health inspection by an inspector in accordance with Schedule 2. 2 In the case of an animal to which the provisions of regulation 14 of the Slaughter of Animals (Prevention of Cruelty) (Scotland) Regulations 1955 apply, such animal may be slaughtered in a slaughterhouse without having been subjected to an ante-mortem health inspection if, after taking all reasonable steps to that end, the occupier of the slaughterhouse is unable to secure such inspection before it is necessary in compliance with the said regulation 14 for the animal to be slaughtered. Dressing of slaughtered animals 4 1 The body of an animal slaughtered in a slaughterhouse shall be dressed immediately after the animal has been slaughtered and the following provisions of this regulation shall be complied with by the person who carries out the dressing. 2 a The offal and blood derived from an animal shall, after they have been removed from the body, be kept until such time as an inspector directs, in such manner as he may direct for the purpose of ensuring their identity with the carcase and any directions so given shall be complied with; b if the person dressing the body of an animal has reason to believe that there is in the meat or blood evidence of disease, he shall take no action, and ensure that no other person takes any action, which might alter or destroy that evidence, and shall comply with any instructions given by an inspector designed to ensure that such evidence as aforesaid is not altered or destroyed; c blood intended for human consumption shall be collected into a receptacle used only for collecting such blood and shall be kept apart from blood not intended for human consumption. 3 The employer or other person having control of any person engaged in dressing the body of an animal shall take all reasonable steps to secure compliance by the said last mentioned person with the provisions of this regulation. Post-mortem inspections 5 1 Every animal slaughtered in a slaughterhouse shall be subjected to a post-mortem health inspection in accordance with the appropriate provisions of Schedule 3. 2 No person shall remove, or cause or permit to be removed, from a slaughterhouse any blood intended for human consumption or any carcase or part of a carcase or any offal until it has been inspected in accordance with these Regulations and, in the case of meat passed as fit for human consumption after inspection, until it has been marked in accordance with regulation 6 and Schedule 4. 3 An inspector shall, so far as is practicable, make his inspection of the meat derived from an animal slaughtered in a slaughterhouse immediately after the offal has been removed from the body of the animal, failing which he shall inspect the meat of the animal as soon as practicable after the body of the animal has been dressed. 4 The carcase of an animal shall be divided into such portions as the veterinary meat inspector may require to enable him to make his inspection and the veterinary meat inspector may, for the purposes of inspection, direct that the portions into which the carcase is so divided shall be retained in the slaughterhouse for such period as he may think fit. Health marking 6 1 Where meat has been passed as fit for human consumption following ante-mortem and post-mortem health inspections in accordance with these Regulations, it shall be marked in accordance with Schedule 4. 2 No person other than an inspector acting in the course of his duties, or a person authorised on his behalf, shall in relation to any meat apply a health mark of the kind described in Schedule 4 to these Regulations. 3 No person shall make or make use of any implement to apply a mark resembling a health mark used by an inspector in accordance with these Regulations with intent to deceive. 4 The inspector shall be responsible for the security of any implement used for the purposes of applying a health mark. PART III PROVISIONS AS TO ANIMALS SLAUGHTERED ELSEWHERE THAN IN A SLAUGHTERHOUSE Casualty animals 7 1 The provisions of this Part of these Regulations shall apply in the case of an animal (hereafter in this Part referred to as “a casualty animal”) which is slaughtered elsewhere than in a slaughterhouse by reason of its having been affected by an accident, illness or other emergency in terms of section 12(1) of the Food and Drugs (Scotland) Act 1956. 2 The body of a casualty animal, or the meat or blood derived therefrom, shall not be sold for human consumption until it has been inspected in a slaughterhouse into which it has been brought in accordance with the provisions of this Part of these Regulations, and the provisions of regulation 5 shall apply to such animal. Dressing of casualty animals 8 1 The body of a casualty animal shall, if it is to be dressed elsewhere than in a slaughterhouse, be so dressed— a as soon as may be after the animal has been slaughtered, b at or as near as is practicable to the place where it is slaughtered, and c as to ensure that the offal remains identifiable with the carcase of the animal or the portions into which the carcase has been divided. 2 If the person dressing the body of a casualty animal, or any person having the custody or control of the meat derived from any such animal, has reason to believe that there is in the meat evidence of disease, he shall not knowingly take any action which might alter or destroy that evidence. 3 Any person engaged in dressing the body of a casualty animal shall comply with the provisions of this regulation and the employer or other person having control of any person so engaged shall take all reasonable steps to ensure the compliance by the last mentioned person with the provisions of this regulation. Casualty animals brought into slaughterhouses 9 1 The owner of the body of a casualty animal, the meat to be derived from which is intended for human consumption, shall bring the body of the animal or, where the body has been dressed, the meat, into a slaughterhouse for inspection by a meat inspector and shall ensure that the offal is identifiable with the carcase from which it was derived. 2 The person having charge of the slaughterhouse into which it is proposed to bring the body of, or the meat derived from, a casualty animal shall accept the body, or the meat, into the slaughterhouse only if there is furnished to him a statement signed by a veterinary surgeon containing the following particulars— a the reason for the animal having been slaughtered elsewhere than in a slaughterhouse, b that the animal was not at the time of slaughter suffering from any disease notifiable under the Animal Health Act 1981 , and c any drug which, to the knowledge of the veterinary surgeon, has been administered to the animal before slaughter and which might affect the meat or blood derived from the animal. 3 A statement in terms of this regulation shall also be furnished to the meat inspector carrying out the inspection. PART IV TRANSFER OF MEAT FROM ONE SLAUGHTERHOUSE TO ANOTHER Need for inspector’s statement 10 Any meat which does not bear a health mark in terms of Schedule 4 may be brought into a slaughterhouse other than that in which it was inspected only if there is produced, to the person having charge of the slaughterhouse into which the meat is to be brought, a statement signed by the inspector who inspected the meat that it has been inspected by him and is fit for human consumption. PART V ADMINISTRATION Fixing of hours of slaughter 11 1 Every local authority within whose area a private slaughterhouse is situated shall determine the days on which, and the hours in those days between which, animals may be slaughtered in the slaughterhouse and in fixing those days and hours the local authority shall have regard to the nature and extent of the business carried on at the slaughterhouse and may from time to time vary the days and hours so fixed and shall intimate to the person registered under the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 , in respect of the slaughterhouse, any determination or variation of those days or hours and, subject to the provision of paragraph (2) of this regulation, no animal shall be slaughtered in the slaughterhouse at any time other than a time within the hours so fixed. 2 Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this regulation, or of any determination or variation made by a local authority by virtue of them, an animal may be slaughtered in a slaughterhouse at a time other than a time fixed by a local authority if— a it has been affected by an accident, illness or other emergency to which section 12(1) of the Food and Drugs (Scotland) Act 1956 applies; b it is an animal which is required by the provisions of regulation 14 of the Slaughter of Animals (Prevention of Cruelty) (Scotland) Regulations 1955 to be slaughtered without delay; or c the person having charge of the slaughterhouse requires in special circumstances to slaughter an animal and has given to the local authority 24 hours notice of his proposal to do so. Records to be kept by local authorities 12 A local authority shall keep in respect of each slaughterhouse in their area a record of the matters set out in Schedule 5. Qualifications of veterinary meat inspectors 13 1 Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this regulation, a person appointed by a local authority as a veterinary meat inspector for the purposes of these Regulations shall be a veterinary surgeon. 2 A registered medical practitioner may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, be appointed by the local authority to exercise the functions of a veterinary meat inspector under these Regulations with the exception of those duties laid down in Schedule 2. Qualifications of meat inspectors 14 1 A person shall not be employed by a local authority as a meat inspector for the purpose of these Regulations unless such person is the holder of a qualification set out in Schedule 6. 2 This requirement shall not apply to any persons employed as meat inspectors before the day on which these Regulations come into force. PART VI CHARGES FOR MEAT INSPECTION Charges by local authorities for meat inspection 15 1 Subject to the provisions of this regulation, a local authority may make charges for inspections carried out in pursuance of these Regulations of such amounts as are determined by them from time to time. 2 Charges made in pursuance of this regulation shall relate to inspections carried out in individual premises within the local authority area. 3 In determining such charges as aforesaid, a local authority shall ensure that from time to time the charges are reasonably sufficient to meet the costs of the authority which are— a specified in Schedule 7, and b necessarily incurred in securing the inspections required by these Regulations. 4 In determining such charges as aforesaid a local authority shall consult with such persons or organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests substantially affected by the charges and shall provide to any such person or organisation at his or their written request a breakdown in writing of the calculation of the charges in relation to the costs specified in Schedule 7. Payment of charges 16 Any charge made by a local authority by virtue of the last foregoing regulation shall be payable— a in respect of any animal slaughtered in a private slaughterhouse, by the person registered under section 4 of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 to use the said slaughterhouse; b in respect of any animal slaughtered in a public slaughterhouse, by the person on whose behalf the animal is slaughtered; c in any other case, by the person who brings the body of the animal or, where the body has been dressed, the meat, into a slaughterhouse in accordance with the provisions of regulation 9. PART VII GENERAL Saving for Animal Health Act 1981 17 Nothing in these Regulations shall be construed as derogating from the provisions of the Animal Health Act 1981, or of any Order or Regulations made under that Act. Enforcement 18 Each local authority shall execute and enforce the provisions of these Regulations in their area. Offences and penalties 19 Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any requirement of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable— a on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000; b on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both. Revocations 20 The Regulations specified in Schedule 8 are hereby revoked. Sanderson of Bowden Minister of State, Scottish Office St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh 17th August 1988