The Bovine Offal (Prohibition) Regulations 1989

Contents

1Title and Commencement#

These Regulations may be cited as the Bovine Offal (Prohibition) Regulations 1989 and shall come into force on 13th November 1989.

2Interpretation#

(1)In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires–• “the Act” means the Food Act 1984;• “excepted premises”, in the case of specified bovine offal, means–(a) a hospital, medical or veterinary school, laboratory or similar institution for instructional or diagnostic purposes or the premises of a manufacturing chemist (in circumstances where he receives the offal for the manufacture by him of pharamaceutical products); or(b) premises used for the manufacture of products other than food and not used for the manufacture of food;• “head” does not include tonsils;• “intestines” means that part of the digestive tract of a bovine animal from the junction of the abomasum and the duodenum to (and including) the rectum;• “processor” has the meaning given to it in the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 and also includes a waste food processor licensed under the provisions of the Diseases of Animals (Waste Food) Order 1973 to receive unprocessed waste food;• “sell” includes have in possession for sale or offer or exposed for sale and “sale” and “sold” shall be construed accordingly;• “slaughterhouse” has the same meaning as in the Act, except that it does not include any place available in connection with a slaughterhouse and used solely for the manufacture of bacon, ham, sausages, meat pies or other manufactured meat products, or for the storage of meat used in such manufacture;• “specialist boning plant” means premises (not being a slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard) where a business of removing meat from bones is carried on but does not include any premises where such removal of meat is made in the course of or for the purposes of the sale by retail of meat;• “specified bovine offal” means the brain, spinal cord, spleen, thymus, tonsils and intestines of a bovine animal which has been slaughtered in the United Kingdom and no longer comprises a whole dead animal, and “excluded matter” means any part of such an animal which part does not consist of or contain any specified bovine offal;• “stained” has the meaning given to it in the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 and “stain” and “staining” shall be construed accordingly;• “sterilised” has the meaning given to it in the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 and “sterilise” and “sterilisation” shall be construed accordingly.

(2)For the purposes of these Regulations–

(a)the supply of food otherwise than by sale at, in or from any place where food is supplied in the course of a business, shall be deemed to be a sale of that food; and

(b)where, in connection with any business in the course of which food is supplied, the place where the food is served to the customers is different from the place where the food is consumed, both those places shall be deemed to be places in which food is sold.

3Exemptions#

(1)These Regulations shall not apply in respect of specified bovine offal of a bovine animal not more than six months old when slaughtered.

(2)The requirements as to sterilisation and staining and restrictions on movement in these Regulations shall not apply in the case of–

(a)any specified bovine offal which is removed or is intended to be removed from any place by, or under the authority of, a veterinary surgeon for examination by him or on his behalf, or

(b)any specified bovine offal which is neither held for the purposes of a business nor on premises on which the bovine animal whose offal it is has been slaughtered.

4Prohibition of sale#

No person shall–

(a)sell, or

(b)use in the preparation of food for sale, for human consumption,

(b)any specified bovine offal.

5Requirements as to sterilisation and staining of specified bovine offal in slaughterhouses#

(1)Subject to regulation 10(3) and to paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) below, any specified bovine offal at a slaughterhouse shall immediately be sterilised by the occupier at the slaughterhouse or be placed by him a room or receptacle designed for the purpose of holding meat awaiting sterilisation and bearing a notice stating that its contents are to be sterilised on the premises, and shall then be sterilised by him at the slaughterhouse.

(2)The requirements as to sterilisation imposed by paragraph (1) above shall not apply in the case of any specified bovine offal which–

(a)is stained by the occupier of the slaughterhouse immediately after slaughter; or

(b)is intended to be removed from the slaughterhouse under the authority of a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12 to excepted premises.

(3)The requirement as to sterilisation imposed by paragraph (1) above shall not apply in the case of the brain of a bovine animal contained within its head which is intended to be removed from the slaughterhouse to a specialist boning plant under the authority of a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12 where that head is intended to be removed there for the purpose of the recovery of meat (other than specified bovine offal) from it.

(4)Nothing in this regulation shall be taken to prohibit the severance of specified bovine offal from any excluded matter which is not intended for sterilisation or staining, and things to be done immediately under this regulation shall be taken to be so done where any delay is attributable solely to that severance.

6Prohibition of removal of specified bovine offal from a slaughterhouse#

Subject to regulations 10(1) and (2) and 11(2) no person shall remove or cause or permit to be removed from a slaughterhouse any specified bovine offal unless–

(a)it has been sterilised in accordance with regulation 5;

(b)it has been stained in accordance with regulation 5 and is intended to be delivered to a destination specified in regulation 11(1)(b) or (c) and its removal to that destination is authorised by a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12; or

(c)it is intended to be delivered to excepted premises and its removal to those premises is authorised by a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12.

7Prohibition of removal of specified bovine offal from a place other than a slaughterhouse or a knacker’s yard#

(1)No person shall remove or cause or permit to be removed from any place of which he is the occupier, not being a slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard, any specified bovine offal unless–

(a)it has been sterilised;

(b)it has been stained and is intended to be delivered to a destination specified in regulation 11(1)(b) and (c) and its removal to that destination is authorised by a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12;

(c)it is intended to be delivered to excepted premises and its removal to those premises is authoried by a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12;

(d)it is intended to be delivered to a knacker’s yard; or

(e)it is intended to be delivered to a slaughterhouse, together with the carcase to which it relates, in accordance with regulation 21(b) of the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977.

(2)In paragraph (1)(e) above “carcase” has the same meaning as it has in the Slaughterhouse (Hygiene) Regulations 1977.

8Prohibition on freezing#

(1)Subject to paragraph (2) below, no person shall freeze any specified bovine offal in a slaughterhouse or any other place unless it has been sterilised or stained.

(2)The prohibition in paragraph (1) above shall not apply in the case of any specified bovine offal which is intended to be removed, under the authority of a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12, to excepted premises.

9Prohibition of bringing in of specified bovine offal from Scotland or Northern Ireland#

(1)No person shall bring, or cause or permit to be brought into England and Wales from Scotland or Northern Ireland any specified bovine offal unless–

(a)it has been sterilised;

(b)it has been stained and is intended to be delivered to a destination specified in regulation 11(1)(b) or (c) and it is accompanied to that destination by a consignment note or permit; or

(c)it is intended to be delivered to excepted premises and is accompanied to that destination by a consignment note or permit.

(2)The driver of the vehicle in which specified bovine offal is delivered to any premises accompanied by a consignment note or a permit shall give that note or a copy of that permit to the occupier of that premises, who shall retain it for a period of two years from the date on which he received it and within seven days of that date send a copy thereof to the local authority in whose district those premises are or that specified bovine offal is located. Any consignment note or copy permit retained by an occupier of premises in accordance with the requirements of this paragraph shall be made available for inspection by an authorised officer at any reasonable time.

(3)On receipt of any such copy of a consignment note or permit in accordance with paragraph (2) of this regulation the local authority shall, if the specified bovine offal to which it relates has been brought in from Scotland, forthwith notify in writing the local authority in Scotland from whose district the specified bovine offal has been brought in, or, if the specified bovine offal has been brought in from Northern Ireland, notify in writing the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland of the arrival of the consignment related to the consignment note or permit.

(4)In this regulation–• “consignment note” means a consignment note issued in pursuance of Part III of the Meat and Poultry Meat (Staining and Sterilisation) (Scotland) Regulations 1983; and• “permit” means, in relation to specified bovine offal, a permit issued under the provisions of regulation 16 of the Meat Shipping Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1964 or a movement permit issued under the provisions of regulation 20 of the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1984 authorising the removal of that specified bovine offal to the premises to which it is to be delivered.

10Exemption from requirements as to sterilisation and staining of specified bovine offal in slaughterhouses#

(1)Specified bovine offal which has been neither sterilised nor stained may be removed from a slaughterhouse which is not equipped with facilities for the sterilisation of specified bovine offal if–

(a)each destination referred to in regulation 11(1) to which it is reasonably practicable to deliver that specified bovine offal is, by reason of permanent or temporary closure of the premises or a breakdown of the machinery installed therein or a trade dispute, unable to receive it;

(b)that specified bovine offal is transported in a vehicle or in an impervious container which, in either case, bears a notice of adequate size which is conspicuously visible and contains a distinct, legible and unambiguous statement to the effect that the specified bovine offal carried therein is not for human consumption; and

(c)that specified bovine offal is removed, in accordance with an arrangement in writing with, and under the supervision of, an authorised officer of the local authority in whose district the slaughterhouse is situated, to a place where it is buried or destroyed.

(2)There may be removed from a slaughterhouse which has exhausted, and cannot practicably replenish, its supplies of staining fluid, specified bovine offal, which has neither been sterilised nor stained, if that bovine offal is delivered to a destination referred to in regulation 11(1)(b) or (c) in accordance with an arrangement in writing with, and under the supervision of, an authorised officer of the local authority in whose district the slaughterhouse is situated.

(3)Where any specified bovine offal is removed from a slaughterhouse in accordance with paragraph (1) or (2) above the occupier of that slaughterhouse is exempt from any requirement imposed by these Regulations to sterilise or stain that specified bovine offal.

11Removal of specified bovine offal#

(1)Specified bovine offal may be removed, in accordance with a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12, to one of the following destinations–

(a)excepted premises;

(b)the premises of a processor for sterilisation by him; or

(c)the premises of a person for preparation before further removal to a processor, or for storage before further removal to a destination specified in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) above.

(2)The head of a bovine animal from which the brain has not been removed may be removed from a slaughterhouse, in accordance with a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12, to a specialist boning plant for the recovery of meat (other than specified bovine offal) from that head.

(3)Any specified bovine offal which is removed to a destination referred to in paragraph (1)(b) or (c) of this regulation shall be removed in a vehicle or in an impervious container which, in either case, is kept closed and locked or sealed at all times except when necessary for the loading or unloading of the contents or their examination by an authorised officer and which bears a notice of adequate size which is conspicuously visible and contains a distinct, legible and unambiguous statement to the effect that the specified bovine offal carried therein is not for human consumption, which notice shall be affixed by the occupier of the place from which it is removed.

(4)There shall not be removed from any relevant premises (that is to say, any premises specified in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) above or any specialist boning plant) any specified bovine offal unless–

(a)that specified bovine offal has been sterilised or, in the case of the brain of a bovine animal to be removed from a specialist boning plant, it has been sterilised or stained;

(b)that specified bovine offal is removed from the premises referrred to in sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (1) above and is intended to be delivered to another destination referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) or (b) of paragraph (1) above and its removal to that destination is authorised by a movement permit issued pursuant to regulation 12;

(c)that specified bovine offal cannot be disposed of at those relevant premises because of a permanent or temporary closure thereof or a breakdown of the machinery installed therein or a trade dispute, and it is removed therefrom in accordance with an arrangement in writing with, and under the supervision of, an authorised officer of the local authority in whose district those relevant premises are situated to another destination referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) of paragraph (1) above or to a place where it is buried or destroyed; or

(d)that specified bovine offal is removed from a hospital, medical or veterinary school, laboratory or similar institution in accordance with an arrangement in writing with, and under the supervision of, an authorised officer of the local authority in whose district those premises are situated to another destination referred to in sub-paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of paragraph (1) above or to a place where it is buried or destroyed.

12Authorisation for removal of unsterilised specified bovine offal from a slaughterhouse or other place#

(1)In any case where these Regulations prohibit the removal of unsterilised specified bovine offal from premises without a movement permit and it is intended to remove such offal from such premises, the occupier of the premises shall, at least two working days before the day on which it is intended to remove that unsterilised specified bovine offal from those premises, apply to the local authority in whose district those premises are located and shall give to that authority the following information–

(a)the date on which the removal is intended to take place;

(b)the description of specified bovine offal intended to be moved and whether or not is has been stained;

(c)the address and description of the premises to which that specified bovine offal is intended to be delivered; and

(d)the expected date of arrival of the specified bovine offal at those premises.

(2)Upon receipt of an application an authority shall, without undue delay, satisfy itself that the premises to which it is intended to deliver the unsterilised specified bovine offal the subject of the application are premises of a kind to which that specified bovine offal may be removed under the appropriate provision of these Regulations and are capable of processing or otherwise disposing of the specified bovine offal. If the premises are situated in the district of another local authority, the authority to whom the application was made shall notify that other authority that the application has been made, and shall take into account any information obtained from that authority in reaching its decision as to the nature of the premises.

(3)When an authority is satisfied in respect of the matters referred to in paragraph (2) above it shall thereafter issue to the applicant a movement permit in the form specified in the Schedule to these Regulations (comprised by an original and three copies thereof) of which Part I has been duly completed by the authority.

(4)When the occupier of any premises to which this regulation applies regularly delivers unsterilised specified bovine offal of a specific description to a particular destination, the authority in whose district the premises, or as the case may be the specified bovine offal, are or is situated shall, on application being made to it stating the description of that specified bovine offal and the address and description of that destination, authorise in advance each such movement by issuing such quantity of movement permits as it considers appropriate.

(5)The occupier of any premises from which unsterilised specified bovine offal is removed under the authority of a movement permit shall complete Part II of the document delivered to him and shall give the original together with two copies thereof to the driver of the vehicle by which the specified bovine offal is to be removed and shall retain the other copy for a period of two years.

(6)When the driver delivers the specified bovine offal to the premises named in the movement permit given to him he shall give to the occupier of those premises the documents delivered to him in accordance with paragraph (5) above.

(7)The occupier shall then complete Part III of the documents and shall acknowledge receipt of the specified bovine offal thus delivered to him by signing the original and its two copies and shall, within seven days from the date of receipt of the specified bovine offal, send the original and one copy thereof to the local authority in whose district his premises are situated.

(8)The occupier shall retain the other copy of the document for a period of two years from the date on which he received the specified bovine offal to which it relates.

(9)If the driver is unable to deliver the specified bovine offal to the premises named in the movement permit given to him he shall without delay inform or cause to be informed either the authority by whom the permit was issued or the authority in whose district the premises are situated, who shall without delay authorise the delivery of the specified bovine offal to another destination referred to in regulation 11(1) or, if no such alternative destination is available, require the specified bovine offal to be returned to the premises from which it was removed, or to be buried or destroyed under its supervision.

(10)In a case to which paragraph (9) above applies, the driver shall give to the occupier of the premises to which the specified bovine offal is delivered in accordance with that paragraph or, in the case of its burial or destruction, to the supervising authority the documents delivered to him in accordance with paragraph (5) above.

(11)The occupier of the premises to which the specified bovine offal is delivered shall thereupon complete Part IV of the movement permit and acknowledge receipt of the specified bovine offal to which the permit relates by signing the original and its two copies and shall, within seven days from the date of receipt of the specified bovine offal, send the original and one copy of such permit to the local authority in whose district his premises are situated.

(12)The occupier shall retain the other copy of such permit for a period of two years from the date on which he received the specified bovine offal to which it relates.

(13)Any local authority to which is sent the original and a copy of a movement permit shall complete Part V thereof, shall retain the copy for a period of two years and (where it is not the issuer of the permit) shall send the original of such permit to the authority which issued it.

(14)Any person required by paragraph (5), (8) or (12) of this regulation to retain a document shall make that document available for inspection by an authorised officer at any reasonable time.

(15)In the regulation “the appropriate provision” means–

(a)in respect of specified bovine offal which has not been stained, regulation 6(c), 7(c), 11(2) or 11(4)(b) above, as the case may be, and

(b)in respect of specified bovine offal which has been stained, any provision indicated in sub-paragraph (a) above or regulation 6(b) or 7(b) above, as the case may be.

13Requirement to sterilise or stain skulls containing brains#

The occupier of a specialist boning plant receiving any head of a bovine animal, from which the brain has not been removed, for the removal of meat from the head shall, immediately after removal of the meat–

(a)sterilise or stain the skull with the brain still inside the skull, or

(b)remove the brain from the skull and sterilise or stain the brain.

14Separation of meat fit for human consumption from specified bovine offal during storage#

(1)The provisions of this regulation shall apply to specified bovine offal once it has been severed from excluded matter which is fit for human consumption.

(2)Subject to paragraph (4) below, no person shall store any meat fit for human consumption in the same room as any specified bovine offal unless the specified bovine offal, whether or not frozen, has been sterilised or stained and is stored according to an arrangement which ensures that it is at all times separated from the meat which is fit for human consumption.

(3)Subject to paragraph (4) below, no person shall store any specified bovine offal unless any container, wrapper or other packaging used to hold it bears a notice of adequate size which is conspicuously visible and contains a distinct, legible and unambiguous statement to the effect that the specified bovine offal held therein is not for human consumption, together with the name of the packer and the address at which the specified bovine offal was packed.

(4)It shall be a defence for any person charged with a contravention of, or failure to comply with, paragraph (2) or (3) above to prove that he did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the material was specified bovine offal.

15Penalties and enforcement#

(1)If any person contravenes, or fails to comply with, any provision of these Regulations, or knowingly or recklessly makes a false statement or declaration in any document required by these Regulations for the movement of any specified bovine offal, he shall be guility of an offence and shall be liable–

(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale; and

(b)on conviction on indictement, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

(2)Each local authority shall enforce and execute the provisions of these Regulations in its district.

16Application of various sections of the Act#

(1)Subject to paragraph (3) of this regulation, the following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations as if references therein to proceedings, or a prosecution, under or taken or brought under the Act included references to proceedings, or a prosecution, as the case may be, taken or brought for an offence under these Regulations–

(a)sections 95(5) and (6) (which relates to prosecutions);

(b)section 97(1) and (3) (which relates to evidence of analysis);

(c)section 99 (which relates to the power of a court to require analysis by the Government Chemist);

(d)section 100 (which relates to a contravention due to some person other than the person charged);

(e)section 102(2) (which relates to the conditions under which a warranty may be pleaded as a defence); and

(f)section 103 (which relates to offences in relation to warranties and certificates of analysis).

(2)Section 116 of the Act (which relates to protection of local government officers acting in good faith) shall have effect for the purposes of these Regulations as if references therein to that Act were references to these Regulations.

(3)Section 99 shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations as if the reference therein to section 95(6) of the Act included a reference to that sub-section as applied by paragraph (1) of this regulation.

17Amendment of the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977#

The Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977 shall be amended as follows–

(a)by inserting in regulation 2(1) thereof after the defintion of “slaughterhouse licence” the following definition–““specified bovine offal” has the meaning given to it in the Bovine Offal (Prohibition) Regulations 1989.”; and

(b)by inserting in paragraph (a) of regulation 21 thereof after the words “inspected and” the words “save for specified bovine offal have been”.

Schedule · Specified bovine offal: movement permit

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Defined terms · 14

Show every defined term

carcase
has the same meaning as it has in the Slaughterhouse (Hygiene) Regulations 1977.
consignment note
means a consignment note issued in pursuance of Part III of the Meat and Poultry Meat (Staining and Sterilisation) (Scotland) Regulations 1983;
excluded matter
means any part of such an animal which part does not consist of or contain any specified bovine offal;
intestines
means that part of the digestive tract of a bovine animal from the junction of the abomasum and the duodenum to (and including) the rectum;
permit
means, in relation to specified bovine offal, a permit issued under the provisions of regulation 16 of the Meat Shipping Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1964 or a movement permit issued under the provisions of regulation 20 of the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1984 authorising the removal of that specified bovine offal to the premises to which it is to be delivered.
processor
has the meaning given to it in the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 and also includes a waste food processor licensed under the provisions of the Diseases of Animals (Waste Food) Order 1973 to receive unprocessed waste food;
sell
includes have in possession for sale or offer or exposed for sale and “sale” and “sold” shall be construed accordingly;
slaughterhouse
has the same meaning as in the Act, except that it does not include any place available in connection with a slaughterhouse and used solely for the manufacture of bacon, ham, sausages, meat pies or other manufactured meat products, or for the storage of meat used in such manufacture;
specialist boning plant
means premises (not being a slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard) where a business of removing meat from bones is carried on but does not include any premises where such removal of meat is made in the course of or for the purposes of the sale by retail of meat;
specified bovine offal
means the brain, spinal cord, spleen, thymus, tonsils and intestines of a bovine animal which has been slaughtered in the United Kingdom and no longer comprises a whole dead animal, and “excluded matter” means any part of such an animal which part does not consist of or contain any specified bovine offal;
stained
has the meaning given to it in the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 and “stain” and “staining” shall be construed accordingly;
sterilised
has the meaning given to it in the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 and “sterilise” and “sterilisation” shall be construed accordingly.
the Act
means the Food Act 1984;
the appropriate provision
means–

1Title and Commencement#

2Interpretation#

3Exemptions#

4Prohibition of sale#

5Requirements as to sterilisation and staining of specified bovine offal in slaughterhouses#

6Prohibition of removal of specified bovine offal from a slaughterhouse#

7Prohibition of removal of specified bovine offal from a place other than a slaughterhouse or a knacker’s yard#

8Prohibition on freezing#

9Prohibition of bringing in of specified bovine offal from Scotland or Northern Ireland#

10Exemption from requirements as to sterilisation and staining of specified bovine offal in slaughterhouses#

11Removal of specified bovine offal#

12Authorisation for removal of unsterilised specified bovine offal from a slaughterhouse or other place#

13Requirement to sterilise or stain skulls containing brains#

14Separation of meat fit for human consumption from specified bovine offal during storage#

15Penalties and enforcement#

16Application of various sections of the Act#

17Amendment of the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977#

Schedule · Specified bovine offal: movement permit

Defined terms · 14

Connections

History · 1 version

Key facts

1Title and Commencement#

2Interpretation#

3Exemptions#

4Prohibition of sale#

5Requirements as to sterilisation and staining of specified bovine offal in slaughterhouses#

6Prohibition of removal of specified bovine offal from a slaughterhouse#

7Prohibition of removal of specified bovine offal from a place other than a slaughterhouse or a knacker’s yard#

8Prohibition on freezing#

9Prohibition of bringing in of specified bovine offal from Scotland or Northern Ireland#

10Exemption from requirements as to sterilisation and staining of specified bovine offal in slaughterhouses#

11Removal of specified bovine offal#

12Authorisation for removal of unsterilised specified bovine offal from a slaughterhouse or other place#

13Requirement to sterilise or stain skulls containing brains#

14Separation of meat fit for human consumption from specified bovine offal during storage#

15Penalties and enforcement#

16Application of various sections of the Act#

17Amendment of the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977#

Schedule · Specified bovine offal: movement permit