Title and commencement

1. This Order may be cited as the Specified Bovine Offal (Amendment) Order 1995 and shall come into force on 15th December 1995.

Amendment

2.-(1) The Specified Bovine Offal Order 1995(2) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this Order.

(2) In article 2 (interpretation) after paragraph (3) there shall be added the following paragraph-

"(4) In this Order the expression "mechanical means" does not include the use of hand held powered knives which do not use powered pressure or suction.".

(3) After article 4 (specified bovine offal for human consumption) the following articles shall be added:

"Prohibitions applying to vertebral column

4A.-(1) No person shall use the vertebral column of a bovine animal in the recovery of meat by mechanical means.

(2) No person shall use, in the preparation of food for sale for human consumption, any meat which has been recovered by mechanical means from the vertebral column of a bovine animal.

(3) No person shall use the vertebral column of a bovine animal from which meat has been cut, to produce food other than fat or gelatin for sale for human consumption.

(4) For the purposes of this article "vertebral column" means the whole or any part thereof and includes the sacrum but does not include the coccygeal vertebrae.

Registration of premises on which meat is recovered by mechanical means from bovine animals

4B.-(1) No person shall on any premises recover meat by mechanical means from a bovine animal unless his name and the address of those premises are registered with the appropriate Minister.

(2) The appropriate Minister shall keep a register for the purposes of paragraph (1) above.

(3) An application for registration shall be in writing and in such form and manner as the appropriate Minister may require.

(4) The appropriate Minister shall refuse to register the name of any person in respect of any premises unless the following particulars are notified to him in writing:

(a)the business name, if any;

(b)the name and address of the person who carries on the business;

(c)the address and telephone number of the business:

(d)the address of each premises at which meat is recovered by mechanical means from a bovine animal in the course of the business.

(5) Any person whose name is registered shall notify the appropriate Minister in writing of any change in the particulars previously notified to him within 14 days of any such change.".

(4) For article 21 (export) there shall be substituted the following article-

"21.-(1) No person shall export from Great Britain to another member State-

(a)specified bovine offal, or protein or tallow derived from specified offal, or

(b)meat which has been recovered by mechanical means from the vertebral column of a bovine animal and is intended for human consumption,

except in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister.

(2) In this article "vertebral column" has the same meaning as in article 4A(4) above.".

(5) In article 26 (transitional provisions), after paragraph (2) there shall be added the following paragraph-

"(3) Any requirement under this Order relating to the registration of premises for the mechanical recovery of meat from a bovine animal shall not operate until 31st January 1996.".

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Specified Bovine Offal Order 1995 by inserting a new article 4A which imposes certain restrictions on the use of the vertebral column of bovine animals, and a new article 4B which imposes a registration requirement, effective from 31st January 1996, for those premises on which meat is recovered by mechanical means from bovine animals (article 2(3)).

This Order also amends article 21 of the principal Order so as to extend the restriction on exports from Great Britain to other member States to meat recovered by mechanical means from the vertebral column of bovine animals which is intended for human consumption (article 2(4)). The Order specifically excludes from the expression "mechanical means" the use of hand held powered knives which do not use powered pressure or suction (article 2(2)).

A Compliance Cost Assessment has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Animal Health (Disease Control) Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Government Buildings, Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 7NF.