S.I. No. 434/1997 - European Communities (Fresh Meat) Regulations, 1997

Premises, instruments and working equipment shall not be used for purposes other than work on fresh meat or farmed game meat authorised in accordance with the European Communities (Rabbit Meat and Farmed Game Meat) Regulations, 1995. S.I. No. 278 of 1995 .

Meat and meat containers shall not come into direct contact with the ground.

Potable water shall be used for all purposes; however, non-potable water may be used in exceptional cases for steam production provided that the pipes installed for this purpose preclude the use of this water for other purposes and present no danger of contamination of fresh meat. In addition, non-potable water may be used in exceptional cases for cooling refrigeration equipment. Non-potable water pipes shall be clearly distinguished from pipes used for potable water.

The spreading of sawdust or any other similar substance on the floor of the workrooms and fresh meat storage rooms is prohibited.

Detergents, disinfectants and similar substances shall be used in such a way that instruments, working equipment and fresh meat are not adversely affected. Their use shall be followed by thorough rinsing of such instruments and working equipment with potable water.

Persons likely to contaminate meat are prohibited from working on it and handling it. When recruited, any person working on and handling fresh meat shall be required to prove, by a medical certificate, that there is no impediment to such employment. The medical certificate shall be renewed every year unless another staff medical check-up scheme can offer equivalent guarantees to the satisfaction of a veterinary inspector.

Animals shall undergo ante-mortem inspection within a period which is less than twenty-four hours after their arrival in the abattoir or slaughterhouse, and less than twenty-four hours before slaughter. In addition, the veterinary inspector may demand to conduct this inspection at any other time.

The veterinary inspector shall, in respect of animals delivered to the abattoir or slaughterhouse, check on compliance with Community rules on animal welfare.

Slaughter animals brought into slaughter premises shall be slaughtered immediately and bleeding, flaying or removing the bristles, dressing and evisceration shall be carried out in a way which avoids any contamination of the meat.

Bleeding shall be complete; blood intended for human consumption shall be collected in absolutely clean containers. It shall not be stirred by hand, only with instruments which meet hygiene requirements.

Immediate and complete flaying is compulsory, except for pigs, without prejudice to the derogation provided for in the point 6(a). Part I, Second Schedule of the Abattoirs Act, 1988 (Veterinary Examination) Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 89 of 1992 ), as amended for the time being. When not flayed, pigs shall have their bristles removed immediately. Debristling agents may be used for this operation, provided that the pigs are thoroughly rinsed afterwards with potable water.

Evisceration shall be carried out immediately and completed not later than 45 minutes after stunning or, in. the cage of ritual slaughter, half an hour after bleeding. The lungs, heart, liver, kidney, spleen and mediastinum may either be detached or left attached to the carcass by their natural connections.

Implements shall not be left in the meat; cleansing of meat by wiping with a cloth or other materials, and inflation, are prohibited. However, inflation of an organ may be authorised for ritual purposes, but in that event the inflated organ shall be excluded from human consumption. Mechanical inflation for the flaying of lambs and goats of a live weight of less than 15 kilograms may be approved by a veterinary inspector subject to compliance by the owner or person in charge with the hygiene rules laid down in these Regulations.

Carcasses of solipeds, pigs over four weeks old and bovine animals over six months old shall be submitted for inspection split lengthwise into half carcasses down the spinal column. If the inspection so necessitates, the veterinary inspector may require any head or any carcass to be split lengthwise.

Until the inspection has been completed, it shall not be possible for carcasses and offal not inspected to come into contact with carcasses and offal already inspected, and the removal, cutting or further treatment of the carcass shall be forbidden.

It shall not be possible for meat detained or declared unfit for human consumption, stomachs, intestines and inedible by-products to come into contact with meat declared fit for human consumption, and the former shall be placed as soon as possible in special rooms or containers located and laid out in such a way as to avoid any contamination of other fresh meat.

If the blood or the offal of several animals is collected in the same container before the completion of the post mortem inspection, the entire contents shall be declared unfit for human consumption if the carcass of one of the animals concerned has been declared unfit for human consumption.

The handling, trimming, further treatment and transport of meat, including offal, shall be performed meeting all hygiene requirements. Where such meat is packaged, paragraph 14(d) of Chapter II and the conditions of Chapter XI shall be complied with. Packaged meat shall be stored in a separate room from exposed fresh meat.

All parts of the animal including the blood shall be inspected immediately after slaughter to determine whether the meat is fit for human consumption. This inspection shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Abattoirs Act, 1988 (Veterinary Examination) Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 89 of 1992 ), as amended for the time being.

Where the veterinary inspector finds that the hygiene rules laid down in this Chapter are clearly being breached or that adequate health inspection is being hampered, he shall be empowered to take action with regard to the use of equipment or premises and to take any measure required, up to and including a reduction in the rate of production or interruption of the production process.

A. In addition, the veterinary inspector shall systematically carry out:

Cutting pieces smaller than quarter carcass, deboning or the cutting of offal is authorised in approved cutting plants only.

The owner or operator of the plant shall facilitate operations for supervising the plant, in particular any handling which is considered necessary, and shall place the necessary facilities at the disposal of the supervisory service. In particular, he shall be able on request to inform the veterinary inspector responsible for supervision of the source of the meat brought into his cutting plant.

Without prejudice to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph 19 of Chapter V, meat which does not fulfil the requirements of Regulation 7(2)(b) of these Regulations may not be placed in approved cutting plants unless placed in special storage areas; it shall be cut up in other places or at other times than meat which does fulfil those requirements. The veterinary inspector shall at all times have access to all storage rooms and work rooms in order to satisfy himself that the preceding provisions are rigorously observed.

( a ) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (d), fresh meat shall be brought into the rooms provided for in paragraph 15 (b) of Chapter III progressively as needed. As soon as it is cut, and where appropriate packaged, the meat shall be transferred to the relevant chilling or refrigerating room referred to in paragraph 15 (a) of Chapter III.

Approved cutting plants and approved cold stores shall be supervised by a veterinary inspector.

Supervision by the veterinary inspector may include the following tasks:

Health marking shall be carried out under the responsibility of the veterinary inspector. To accomplish this, he shall supervise:

The EC health mark shall be:

Carcasses shall be stamped in ink or hot-branded in accordance with paragraph 47:

The livers of bovine animals, swine and solipeds shall be hot-branded in accordance with paragraph 47, if they are destined for dispatch to another Member State or a country of the EEA.

All other subproducts of slaughter fit for human consumption shall be marked immediately in accordance with paragraph 47, either directly on the product or on the wrapping or packaging. The mark in accordance with paragraph 47 shall be applied to a label that is fixed to the wrapping or packaging or printed on the packaging. If the wrapping or packaging is carried out in a slaughterhouse, the approval number of that establishment shall be included in the mark.

Packaging shall always be marked in accordance with paragraph 52.

Packaged cut meat and packaged offal referred to in paragraph 49 and 50 shall bear a health mark in accordance with paragraph 47. The mark shall include the veterinary approval number of the cutting plant instead of the slaughterhouse. The mark shall be applied to a label fixed to the packaging, or printed on the packaging, in such a way that it is destroyed when the packaging is opened. Non-destruction of the mark will be tolerated only when the packaging is destroyed by being opened. However, when cut meat or offal is wrapped in accordance with paragraph 59 of Chapter XII, the label referred to above may be affixed to the wrapping. In the case of offal packaged in a slaughterhouse, the number included in the mark shall be the veterinary approval number of the slaughterhouse concerned. This requirement also applies where stackable meat transport containers (Euro-boxes) are used, providing they satisfy the conditions of subparagraph 56(b).

Where fresh meat is wrapped in commercial portions intended for direct sale to the consumer, paragraphs 60 and 52 apply. The dimension requirements of paragraphs 47 need not apply to the mark required under this paragraph. If meat is repackaged 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 be bear the health mark of the packaging centre.

Meat from solipeds and its packaging shall bear a special mark to be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16 of the Council Directive.

The colours used for health marking shall be those listed in Article 2(8) of Council Directive No. 94/36/EEC of 30 June 1994^(13).

( a ) Packaging (for example packing cases, paperboard boxes) shall fulfil all rules of hygiene, and in particular:

Where fresh cut meat or offal is wrapped, this operation shall be carried out immediately after cutting and in accordance with hygiene requirements.

Wrapped meat shall be packaged.

However, when wrapping fulfils all the protective conditions of packaging, it need not be transparent and colourless. Euro-boxes may only be used as a second container, provided that the other conditions of paragraph 56 are fulfilled.

Cutting, boning, wrapping and packaging operations may take place in the same room subject to the following conditions:

The packaging referred to in this chapter may contain only cut meat from the same animal species, except in the case of commercial portions intended for direct sale to the consumer.

The original copy of the health certificate which shall accompany meat during transportation to the place of destination shall be issued by a veterinary inspector at the time of loading.

Fresh meat shall be chilled immediately after the post-mortem inspection and kept at a constant internal temperature of not more than +7°C for carcasses and cuts and +3°C for offal.

No other product which may affect the hygiene of the meat or contaminate it may be stored in the rooms referred to in paragraphs 16 and 17 of Chapter IV unless the meat is packaged and stored separately.

The storage temperature of the storage rooms referred to in paragraphs 16 and 17 of Chapter IV shall be recorded.

Fresh meat shall be transported in means of transport provided with a hermetic closing system or, in the case of fresh meat imported in accordance with the European Communities (Importation of Animals and Animal Products from Third Countries) Regulations, 1994 ( S.I. No. 255 of 1994 ) or fresh meat transiting through the territory of a third country in sealed means of transport, designed and equipped in such a way that the temperatures specified in Chapter XIV are maintained throughout transportation.

Means of transport intended for transporting such meat shall meet the following requirements:

Means of transport intended for transporting meat may in no case be used for transporting live animals or any products likely to affect or contaminate meat.

No other product likely to affect the hygiene of the meat or to contaminate it may be transported at the same time as the meat in the same means of transport unless appropriate precautions are taken. Packaged meat shall be transported in separate means of transport from unpackaged meat unless, within the same means of transport, an adequate physical separation is provided so as to protect unpackaged meat from packaged meat. In addition, stomachs may not be transported therein unless scalded or cleaned, nor heads and feet unless they are skinned or scalded and depilated.

Fresh meat may not be transported in a vehicle or container which is not clean and has not been disinfected.

Carcasses, half carcasses and quarters, half carcasses cut into no more than three wholesale cuts, excluding frozen meat packaged in accordance with hygiene requirements, shall be suspended throughout transport except in the case of air transport in accordance with paragraph 67(c).

The veterinary inspector shall ensure before dispatch that transport vehicles and loading conditions meet the hygiene requirements of this Chapter.

In rooms where fresh meat is produced and worked on:

( a ) as near as possible to the work stations, a sufficient number of facilities for cleaning and disinfecting hands and for cleaning tools with hot water. For washing hands, these facilities shall have hot and cold running water or water premixed to a suitable temperature, cleaning and disinfecting products and hygienic means of drying hands;

appropriate arrangements for protection against pests such as insects and rodents;

( a ) instruments and working equipment such as cutting tables, tables with detachable cutting surfaces, containers, conveyor belts and saws, made of corrosion-resistant material, not liable to taint meat and easy to clean and disinfect The use of wood is forbidden;

refrigeration equipment to keep the internal temperature of the meat at the levels required by these Regulations. The equipment shall include a drainage system linked to the wastewater pipes which presents no risk of contamination of the meat;

a pressurised supply of potable water within the meaning of the European Community (Quality of Water intended for Human Consumption) Regulations, 1988 ( S.I. No. 81 of 1988 ) only. However, a non-potable water supply is authorised in exceptional cases for steam production, fire fighting and the cooling of refrigeration equipment, provided that the pipes installed for this purpose preclude the use of this water for other purposes arid present no risk of contamination of fresh meat. Non-potable water pipes shall be clearly distinguished from those used for potable water;

an adequate supply of hot potable water within the meaning of European Communities (Quality of Water intended for Human Consumption) Regulations, 1988 (S.I. No. 81 of 1.988);

a system for hygienic disposal of waste water;

at least one wash basin and flush lavatories. The latter shall not open directly onto the work rooms. The wash basin shall have hot and cold running water or water premixed to a suitable temperature, hygienic materials for cleaning and disinfecting the hands and hygienic means of drying hands. The wash basin shall be near the lavatories.