S.I. No. 320/1982 - European Communities (Beef Carcase Classification) Regulations, 1982.

S.I. No. 320 of 1982.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (BEEF CARCASE CLASSIFICATION) REGULATIONS, 1982.

I, BRIAN LENIHAN, Minister for Agriculture, 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 implementing Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1358/80 of 5 June 1980¹, Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1208/81 of 28 April 1981², Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2930/81 of 12 October 1981³, Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 563/82 of 10 March 1982⁴ Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1202/82 of 18 May 1982⁵, and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1557/82 of 17 June 1982⁶, hereby make the following regulations:

¹ OJ No. L140, 5. 6.1980, p. 4.

² OJ No. L123, 7. 5.1981, p.13.

³ OJ No. L293, 13.10.1981, p. 6.

⁴ OJ No. L 67, 11. 3.1982, p.23.

⁵ OJ No. L 140, 20. 5.1982, p.35.

⁶ OJ No. L172, 18.6.1982, p.19.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Beef Carcase Classification) Regulations, 1982.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 8th day of November, 1982.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"carcase" means a carcase of an adult bovine animal;

"classification officer" means an officer of the Minister appointed by the Minister to be a classification officer for the purposes of these Regulations;

"the Council Regulations" means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1358/80 of 5 June 1980, Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1208/81 of 28 April 1981, Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2930/81 of 12 October 1981, Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 563/82 of 10 March 1982, Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1202/82 of 18 May 1982 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1557/82 of 17 June 1982;

"export premises" means premises registered in the register of cattle slaughtering premises kept by the Minister pursuant to section 5 of the Agricultural Produce (Fresh Meat) Act, 1930 (No. 10 of 1930), as amended by the Agricultural Produce (Meat) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1978 (No. 13 of 1978), save that, where the context requires, it means the person carrying on the business of slaughtering at the premises;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture;

"vendor" means a person who sells a live bovine animal to an export premises in consideration of a price calculated by reference to the carcase weight of the animal.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Regulations has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations that it has in the Council Regulations.

3. (1) The conformation, fat cover, categories and weights of carcases at export premises shall be determined by a classification officer for the purposes of and in accordance with the Council Regulations and these Regulations by examination of the carcases and shall be recorded in writing at the time of the making of the determinations by, or by a servant or agent of, the export premises concerned.

(2) The conformation of a carcase shall be determined under this Regulation in terms of one of the classes specified in the First Schedule to these Regulations and shall be denoted by the use of whichever of the letters or groups of letters E, U, R, O, O_, PA, PB, PC, is specified in the said First Schedule in relation to the class determined.

(3) The degree of fat cover of a carcase shall be determined under this Regulation in terms of one of the classes specified in the Second Schedule to these Regulations and shall be denoted by the use of whichever of the numbers or numbers and letters 1, 2, 3, 4L, 4H, 5, is specified in the said Second Schedule in relation to the class determined.

(4) The category of a carcase shall be determined under this Regulation in terms of one of the categories specified in the Third Schedule to these Regulations and shall be denoted by the use of whichever of the letters Y, B, S, C, H, is specified in the said Third Schedule in relation to the category so determined.

(5) The weight of a carcase to be determined under this Regulation shall be the hot weight thereof taken as soon as possible after slaughter, less 2 per cent.

(6) A carcase presented for the purpose of making in relation to it the determination provided for by this Regulation shall be dressed in accordance with the provisions of the Fourth Schedule to these Regulations.

(7) Neither the Minister nor a classification officer shall be liable in damages to an export premises or to a vendor in respect of any loss or damage incurred by the export premises or the vendor and occasioned by an error in a determination under this Regulation.

4. (1) Carcases in relation to which determinations under Regulation 3 of these Regulations have been made shall, at the time of the making of the determinations—

( a ) in the case of a determination of weight, by clearly marked on each side, and

( b ) in the case of any other determination, be clearly marked on each quarter or in such other place or places as the classification officer may determine,

by, or by a servant or agent of, the export premises concerned in accordance with the directions of a classification officer, by means of an indelible stamp or label provided by the Minister, with the letters and numbers specified in the Council Regulations and these Regulations indicating the conformation, the fat cover and the categories of the carcases, with the weights of the carcases and with the individual identification codes unique to those carcases included in the Daily Classification Sheet in relation to those carcases in pursuance of these Regulations.

(2) Stamps and labels provided by the Minister for the purposes of this Regulation shall remain the property of the Minister.

(3) A mark applied pursuant to this Regulation shall not be defaced and shall not be removed or altered at any time prior to the exportation of the carcase concerned from the State unless—

( a ) the carcase is cut otherwise than into half carcases or quarter carcases, or

( b ) a classification officer removes or alters the mark or consents to such removal or alteration for the purpose of reviewing and, if appropriate, amending a determination under Regulation 3 of these Regulations, whether or not such review and amendment is associated with further trimming of fat from the carcase.

(4) A label removed from a carcase by, or by a servant or agent of, an export premises shall be given to a classification officer by the person so removing it immediately after such removal.

(5) External fat may be removed from a carcase in accordance with the Council Regulations before it is marked under this Regulation.

5. (1) An export premises shall, in respect of each day on which adult bovine animals are slaughtered on the premises make a clear record (which shall be known as "the Daily Classification Sheet") of the determinations made pursuant to Regulation 3 of these Regulations in relation to the carcases so slaughtered.

(2) Each Daily Classification Sheet shall be retained for a period of two years from the time of the making of the determinations recorded therein.

(3) Each Daily Classification Sheet shall include, in respect of each carcase mentioned therein, an individual identification unique to that carcase.

(4) An export premises shall furnish to the classification officer at those premises on each day on which adult bovine animals are slaughtered at the premises a clear copy of the Daily Classification Sheet relating to those animals.

6. An export premises shall establish and operate a system of identification of carcases that is adequate to enable the information in relation to the conformation, fat cover, categories and weights of carcases and the prices paid by the premises to vendors for the live bovine animals from which the carcases derive to be related to the animals from which the carcases are derived and to enable each carcase to be identified.

7. An export premises shall, at the time of payment for live bovine animals which have been purchased by it on a carcase weight basis, furnish to the vendors thereof a statement in relation to the animals, in the form set out in the Fifth Schedule to these Regulations, of the determinations under Regulations 3 of these Regulations in relation to the carcases of the animals.

8. (1) A classification officer may—

( a ) at all reasonable times enter any premises in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that Daily Classification Sheets or records or other documents in relation to prices paid by export premises to vendors for live bovine animals or copies of Daily Classification Sheets or of such records or documents are kept, and

( b ) require the owner or the person in charge of the premises to produce to him any books, records or other documents which are in the person's control, possession or procurement and which the officer has reasonable grounds for believing to be Daily Classification Sheets or such records or documents as are referred to in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph or copies of or extracts from Daily Classification Sheets or such records or documents and to give to him such information as he may reasonably require in regard to any entries in the books, records or other documents produced to him, and

( c ) inspect, make copies of and take extracts from any books, records or documents produced to him.

(2) An export premises shall provide such facilities for a classification officer as he may reasonably request for the purposes of the performance of his functions under these Regulations and the Council Regulations.

9. (1) A person who contravenes a provision of the Council Regulations or these Regulations or who fails to comply with a requirement under Regulation 8(1) (b) of these Regulations or who obstructs, hinders or interferes with a classification officer when he is exercising a power conferred by these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500.

(2) An offence under this Regulation may be prosecuted by the Minister.

10. The Fresh Meat (Beef Carcase Classification) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 274 of 1979 ), and the Fresh Meat (Beef Carcase Classification) (Amendment) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 385 of 1979 ), are hereby revoked.

SCHEDULE I

Conformation

Development of carcase profiles, in the essential parts (round, back, shoulder)

Class	Description
E excellent	All profiles convex to superconvex; exceptional muscle development	Round:	very rounded; topside spreads markedly over the symphysis (symphysis pelvis)
		Back:	wide and very thick, up to the shoulder; rump very rounded
		Shoulder:	very rounded
U very good	Profiles on the whole convex; very good muscle development	Round:	rounded; topside spreads over the symphysis
		Back:	wide and thick up to the shoulder; rump rounded
		Shoulder:	rounded
R good	Profiles on the whole straight; good muscle development	Round:	well developed; topside slightly rounded
		Back:	still thick but less wide at the shoulder; rump slightly rounded
		Shoulder:	fairly well developed
O fair	Profiles straight to concave; average muscle development	Round:	average development to lacking development
		Back:	average thickness to lacking thickness; rump: straight profile
		Shoulder:	average development to almost flat
O— indifferent	Profiles mostly concave; indifferent muscle development	Round:	lacking development
		Back:	lacking thickness
		Shoulder:	almost flat
PA poor	All profiles concave; poor muscle development	Round:	elongated and poorly developed
		Back:	narrow and thin
		Shoulder:	flat, poorly fleshed, spina of the scapula evident
PB very poor	All profiles very concave; very poor muscle development	The round, back and shoulder are very poorly developed with the outlines of many bones apparent through the thin flesh covering
PC extremely poor	All profiles extremely concave; extremely poor muscle development	Little or no flesh covering on the round, back and shoulder. All the bones of the skeleton are very apparent

SCHEDULE II

Degree of Fat Cover

Amount of fat on the outside of the carcase and in the thoracic cavity

Class	Description
1 low	None up to low fat cover	Thoracic Cavity:	No fat
2 slight	Slight fat cover, flesh visible almost everywhere	Thoracic Cavity:	Intercostal muscles clearly visible
3 average	Flesh, with the exception of the round and shoulder, almost everywhere covered with fat	Thoracic Cavity:	Slight deposits of fat but intercostal muscles still visible
4L above average	Flesh covered with fat, but still partly visible on the round and shoulder; seams of fat prominent on the round	Thoracic Cavity:	Distinctive fat deposits; intercostal muscles may be infiltrated with fat
4H high	Flesh covered with fat, but small areas partly visible on the round, back and shoulder; seams of fat very prominent on the round	Thoracic Cavity:	Prominent fat deposits; intercostal muscles may be infiltrated with fat
5 Very high	Entire carcase covered with fat; the round is almost completely covered with fat, so that the seams of fat are no longer clearly visible	Thoracic Cavity:	Heavy fat deposits; intercostal muscles infiltrated with fat

SCHEDULE III