S.I. No. 175/1997 - European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Amendment Regulations, 1997

S.I. No. 175 of 1997.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (MEAT PRODUCTS AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS, 1997

 I, IVAN YATES, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by Section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive 95/68/EC⁽¹⁾ of 22 December 1995, hereby make the following Regulations.

⁽¹⁾O.J. No. L322 of 22.12.95, p.10.

PART I Preliminary

1 Title and Commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Amendment Regulations, 1997.

(2) The collective citation "the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations 1995 and 1997" shall include these Regulations.

(3) The European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations 1995 and 1997, shall be construed together as one.

(4) These Regulations shall come into operation on 8 May 1997.

PART II

2 ..

2. The Schedules to the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. 126 of 1995) are hereby amended as follows:

1. in the First Schedule, Chapter I, paragraph 2 (e) shall be replaced by the following:

'(e) adequate ventilation and, where necessary, good steam and water-vapour extraction facilities in order to eliminate as far as possible condensation on surfaces such as walls and ceilings or roof linings:'

2. in the First Schedule, Chapter I, the following shall be added to paragraph 8:

 'for disinfecting equipment and utensils, water of a temperature of not less than 82°C, or other disinfection methods approved by the authorised officer, must be used;'

3. in the First Schedule, Chapter I, the following shall be added to paragraph 12:

 'where the authorised officer is not required to be present at all times, a lockable device of sufficient capacity for storage of equipment and materials is sufficient;'

4. in the First Schedule, Chapter I, paragraph 15 shall be replaced by the following;

  '15. adequate facilities for cleaning and disinfecting means of transport; unless, with the agreement of the authorised officer, facilities not situated in the establishment may be used;'

5. in the First Schedule, Chapter I, the following paragraph 16 shall be added:

  '16. where the treatment applied requires the absence of water for manufacture of the products, certain requirements of this Chapter, in particular those laid down in paragraphs 2 (a) and (g), may be adjusted. Should recourse be had to such a derogation, cleaning and disinfecting processes which do not make use of water may, with the authorisation of the authorised officer, be applied in the parts of the establishment concerned.';

6. in the First Schedule, Chapter II A, the last sentence of paragraph I shall be replaced by the following:

  'Cleaning and disinfecting must be performed with a frequency and by means of processes which are in line with the principles set out in Regulation 12 of the European Communities (Meat Products and other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. 126 of 1995).'

7. in the First Schedule, Chapter II A, paragraph 5 shall be replaced by the following:

  '5. Detergents, disinfectants and similar substances must be used in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions in such a way that they do not have adverse effects on the machinery, equipment, raw materials and products. Their use must be followed by thorough rinsing of such instruments and working equipment with potable water except where the directions for use of such substances render such rinsing unnecessary. Products for maintenance and cleaning must be kept in the room or facility provided for in paragraph 14 of Chapter I of this Schedule.';

8. in the Second Schedule, Chapter III, paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

  '3. The presence of products of animal origin, other than meat as defined in the Fourth Schedule of the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. 126 of 1995) contained in the meat products, is authorised only if these products comply with the requirements laid down in the relevant Community legislation.';

9. in the Second Schedule, Chapter V, the third indent of paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:

 '—. for packaging not intended for the final consumer, the date of preparation or a code which can be interpreted by the recipient and by the authorised officer allowing the identification of that date.':

10. in the Second Schedule, Chapter VI shall be replaced by the following:

HEALTH MARK

1. Meat products must carry a health mark. Marking must be carried out during or immediately after manufacture in the establishment or wrapping centre, in an easily visible place in legible and indelible characters which are easy to distinguish. The health mark may be applied directly to the product or to its wrapping if the meat product is individually wrapped, or to a label affixed to the wrapping, in accordance with paragraph 4 (b). However, where a meat product is wrapped and packaged individually, a health mark applied to the packaging is sufficient.

2. Where meat products carrying a health mark in accordance with paragraph I are then packaged, the health mark must also be applied to the packaging.

3. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, the health marking of meat products is not necessary:

( a ) where the health mark, in compliance with paragraph 4, is applied to the external surface of each sales unit containing them;

( b ) where, for meat products in consignments intended for further processing or wrapping in an approved establishment:

—the said consignments bear the health mark of the approved establishment consigning them in a visible place on the external surface, together with a clear indication of the intended destination.

—the recipient establishment maintains a record of the quantities, type and origin of meat products received in accordance with this point and stores that record for the period laid down in Regulation 12 (1) (d) of the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. 126 of 1995). However, meat products in large packagings which are intended for immediate sale without further processing or wrapping must bear a health mark in compliance with paragraph 1, 2 or 3 (a);

( c ) where, for meat products which are not wrapped or packaged but sold in bulk by the manufacturer directly to a retailer:

—the health mark, in compliance with paragraph I, is applied to the container carrying them,

—the manufacturer maintains a record of the quantities and type of the meat products consigned in accordance with this point and of the name of the recipient and stores that record for the period laid down in Regulation 12 (1) (d) of the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 126 of 1995).

4. ( a ) The health mark must give the following particulars within an oval surround:

(i) either:

—above: the initial letter or letters of the consigning country in printed capitals, i.e B-DK-D-EL-E-F IRL-I-L-NL-AT-P-FI-S-UK, followed by the approval number of the establishment or, the re-wrapping centre, in accordance with Commission Decision 94/837/EC⁽²⁾, if necessary accompanied by a code number staling the type of product for which the establishment is approved,

⁽²⁾O.J. No. 352 of 31.12.94, p.15.

—below: one of the following sets of initials: CEE-EOF-EWG-EOK-ETY- EC-EEC;

(ii) or:

—above: the name of the consigning country in capitals,

—in the centre: the approval number of the establishment or the re-wrapping centre, in accordance with Commission Decision 94/837/EC, if necessary accompanied by a code number staling the type of product for which the establishment is approved,

—below: one of the following sets of initials: CEE-EOF-EWG-EOK-ETY-EEC-EEG;

( b ) the health mark may be applied directly to the product by authorised means or be pre-printed on its wrapping or packaging, or to a label affixed to the product, its wrapping or packaging. Where it is applied to the wrapping, the stamp must be destroyed when the wrapping is opened. Failure to destroy the stamp can be tolerated only where the wrapping is destroyed by opening it. In the case of products in hermetically sealed containers, the stamp must be applied indelibly on either lid or the can;

( c ) the health mark may also consist of an irremovable plate of resistant material, complying with all the hygiene requirements and containing all the information listed in point (a).

5. Where a meat product contains other foodstuffs of animal origin such as fishery products, dairy products or egg products, only one health mark must be applied.;

11. in the Second Schedule, Chapter VII, paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

 '1. Meat products must be stored in the rooms provided for in paragraph 1 (a) of Chapter I of the Second Schedule.

 However, meat products may also be stored outside the rooms provided for in that paragraph on the following conditions:

( a ) meat products which cannot be kept at ambient temperatures may be stored in a cold storage plant as referred to in Regulation 10 (1) of the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. 126 of 1995) or in a cold storage plant approved in accordance with the other relevant Directives;

( b ) meat products which can be kept at ambient temperatures may be stored in stores of solid construction, easy to clean and disinfect, and approved by the authorised officer.';

12. in the Second Schedule, Chapter VII, the following shall be added:

 '5. The commercial document referred to in Regulation 10 (2) and (3) of the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. 126 of 1995) must accompany meat products during the first stage of marketing.

 For transport and marketing at subsequent stages, the products must be accompanied by a commercial document bearing the approval number of the consigning establishment identifying the competent authority responsible for control';

13. in the Second Schedule, Chapter VIII, section B shall be replaced by the following:

 'B. The operator or manager of an establishment manufacturing meat products in hermetically sealed containers must also check by sampling that:

(1) a heat treatment is applied to meat products intended for storing at ambient temperature which is capable of destroying or inactivating pathogenic germs and the spores of pathogenic micro-organisms. A register of manufacturing parameters such as filling, size of containers, duration of heating, temperature, procedures in the event of process deviation etc., must be kept for each product by type.

The heat treatment apparatus must be fitted with control devices making it possible to check that containers have undergone effective heat treatment;

(2) the material used for the containers meets Community requirements relating to materials intended to come into contact with foodstuffs;

(3) checks on the Daily output are carried out at intervals determined in advance, to ensure the efficacy of the sealing. To this end, suitable equipment must be available for examining perpendicular sections and the seams of the sealed containers;

(4) additional checks by sampling are carried out by the manufacturer to ensure that:

( a ) sterilised products have undergone effective treatment, by means of:

—incubation test. Incubation must be performed at at least 37°C for seven days or at at least 35°C for 10 days, or any other time/temperature combination recognised as equivalent by the authorised officer,

—microbiological examination of the contents and the containers in the establishment's laboratory or in a laboratory approved by the Minister;

( b ) pasteurised products in hermetically sealed containers satisfy criteria recognised by the authorised officer,

(5) the necessary checks are carried out to ensure that the cooling water contains 'a residual level of chlorine after use. Member States may, however, grant a derogation from this requirement if the water fulfils the requirements of the European Communities (Quality of Water intended for Human Consumption) Regulation, 1988 ( S.I. No. 81 of 1988 ).'

14. in the Second Schedule, Chapter IX, paragraph 2 (a) shall be replaced by the following:

'2. ( a ) The meat product contained in the prepared meal must, as soon as it has been cooked:

(i) be mixed with the other ingredients as soon as practically possible; in that event the time during which the temperature of the meat products is between 10°C and 60°C must be kept to a maximum of two hours; or

(ii) be refrigerated to 10°C or less before being mixed with the other ingredients.

 Where other preparation methods are applied, these must be approved by the authorised officer.';

15. in the Third Schedule, Chapter II A, paragraph 2 (a) shall be replaced by the following:

' ( a ) a cold store, unless the raw materials are collected and rendered within the time limits laid down in B, - paragraphs 3 (b) and (c).'

16. in the Third Schedule, Chapter II B, the words 'for the production of raw materials' shall be deleted in paragraph 7;

17. the Third Schedule, Chapter II B, paragraph 8 shall be replaced by the following:

 '8. Rendered animal fat, depending on type, must meet the following standards:

⁽¹⁾Rendered animal fat obtained by the low temperature rendering of fresh fat from the heart, caul, kidneys and mesentery of bovine animals, and fat from cutting rooms.

⁽²⁾Melted fat obtained from rendering the adipose tissues of swine.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 29th day of April 1997.

IVAN YATES,

 Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of these Regulations is to implement Council Directive No. 95/68/EC of 22 December 1995. The Regulations amend the Schedules to the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin Regulations, 1995 ( S.I. No. 126 of 1995 ).