Volume 14: Responsibilities for Human and Animal Health
3. Red meat hygiene at the slaughterhouse
Annex to Chapter 3: The treatment of meat found to be unfit for human consumption
Introduction
Sterilisation of unfit meat at the slaughterhouse
Concerns of Environmental Health Officers in 1977
'Operation Meathook'
Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982
Categories of meat and offal
Sterilisation
Staining
Requirements and exemptions: permitted destinations
Requirements for sterilisation in slaughterhouses
Restrictions on removal from slaughterhouses
Requirements for sterilisation in knacker's yards
Restrictions on removal from knacker's yards
Requirements affecting unfit meat from a place other than a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard
Requirements on freezing of meat
Requirements on possession for sale, and sale, of meat
Requirements as to storage of meat
Exemption in cases of lack of equipment or exhaustion of supplies

Introduction

3.100 This Annex describes the regulatory measures preventing meat which was unfit for human consumption from entering the human food chain. For this purpose, it is desirable to look at the position before and after the introduction of the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982. ¹

Sterilisation of unfit meat at the slaughterhouse

3.101 Under the Meat (Sterilisation) Regulations 1969, ² a number of restrictions were imposed upon the way in which knacker meat and meat unfit for human consumption could be dealt with. In each case 'meat' was defined to include offal and fat and any product of which a principal ingredient was meat. ³ Subject to certain exceptions, these restrictions applied so long as the 'meat' in question had not been sterilised. 'Sterilised' was defined as meaning treated by boiling or by steam under pressure until every piece of meat was cooked throughout or dry-rendered, digested or solvent-processed into technical tallow, greases, glues, feeding meals or fertilisers. ⁴

3.102 Enforcement powers (described below) were given to authorised officers of local authorities. 'Local authority' was defined under the Food and Drugs Act 1955 as meaning, for any borough and any urban district or rural district, the council of the borough or district. ⁵

3.103 'Authorised officer' was defined (also under the Act) as meaning an officer of the council authorised by them in writing, either generally or specially, to act in matters of any specified kind or in any specified matter, and - for the purpose of taking samples - included a police constable authorised by the police authority concerned. ⁶ In order to be authorised to act in relation to the examination and seizure of meat an officer was required to be one of the following:

1. a medical officer of health;
2. a sanitary inspector;
3. a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) employed for the purpose of inspection of food; or
4. a person having such qualifications as might be prescribed by Regulations made by the Ministers. ⁷

3.104 The medical officer of health and the sanitary inspector of a council were to be deemed authorised officers by virtue of their appointments. ⁸ A member of the RCVS employed for the purpose of inspecting food was to be deemed authorised for the examination and seizure of meat under the provisions of Part I of the Act relating to food unfit for human consumption. ⁹

3.105 As regards the restrictions imposed by the 1969 Regulations, first, the occupier of a slaughterhouse was prohibited from causing or permitting to be removed from the slaughterhouse, and any person was prohibited from removing from a slaughterhouse, any meat which was unfit for human consumption, unless that meat had first been sterilised. ¹⁰

3.106 Second, the occupier of a knacker's yard was prohibited from causing or permitting to be removed from the knacker's yard, and any person was prohibited from removing from a knacker's yard, any meat, unless that meat had first been sterilised. ¹¹

3.107 Each of these prohibitions was subject to exceptions for removal:

1. to any hospital, medical or veterinary school or similar institution for instructional or diagnostic purposes or to any manufacturing chemist for the manufacture by him of pharmaceutical products; or
2. subject to certain requirements, to any processor for sterilisation by him, or to any zoological garden, menagerie, mink farm, or trout farm, or to any person by arrangement in writing with an authorised officer for preparation before further removal to any processor or manufacturing chemist or for storage. ¹²

3.108 The requirements for exception (ii) were that in each case the meat was removed in a vehicle or impervious container, which was kept closed and locked at all times except when necessary for the loading or unloading of the contents or their examination by an authorised officer. The vehicle or container was also required to bear a notice of adequate size which was conspicuously visible and contained a distinct, legible and unambiguous statement to the effect that the meat was not for human consumption.

3.109 Third, it was an offence for any person to possess for the purpose of sale or preparation for sale butcher's meat which was unfit for human consumption, or knacker meat, unless that meat had first been sterilised. ¹³ 'Butcher's meat' was defined as meaning meat from any animal slaughtered in the UK for sale for human consumption. ¹⁴ 'Knacker meat' was defined as meaning meat from any animal slaughtered in, or carcass brought into, a knacker's yard in the UK. ¹⁵ The Regulations provided for two defences to proceedings for contravention of this prohibition. It was a defence for an individual to prove:

1. that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the meat was unfit for human consumption or was knacker meat: ¹⁶ or
2. that he had made arrangements for it to be sterilised without any unnecessary delay. ¹⁷

3.110 There was exempted from this prohibition any meat: ¹⁸

• in any slaughterhouse or knacker's yard;
• subject to certain requirements, ¹⁹ in the possession of any person while in transit from a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard to:
  
  
  1. any processor;
  2. any zoological garden, menagerie, mink farm or trout farm;
  3. any person by arrangement in writing with an authorised officer for preparation before removal to any processor or manufacturing chemist;
• in the possession of any person while in transit from a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard to any hospital, medical or veterinary school or similar institution for instructional or diagnostic purposes or to any manufacturing chemist for the manufacture by him of pharmaceutical products;
• on the premises:
  
  
  1. of any processor for sterilisation by him;
  2. of any manufacturing chemist for the manufacture by him on those premises of pharmaceutical products;
  3. of any zoological garden, menagerie, mink farm or trout farm;
  4. subject to certain requirements, ²⁰ of any person by arrangement in writing with an authorised officer for preparation before removal to any processor or manufacturing chemist or for storage on those premises; or
• in transit to the premises of any processor or manufacturing chemist in a vehicle or container in accordance with (iv) above.

3.111 These first three prohibitions were subject to an exemption where there were no facilities for sterilisation in a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard. In that event those prohibitions did not apply to any meat removed from that slaughterhouse or knacker's yard by arrangement in writing with an authorised officer to a place where it would be sterilised or destroyed. ²¹

3.112 Fourth, no person was permitted to sell, or offer or expose for sale, by retail, any butcher's meat which was unfit for human consumption, or knacker meat, unless that meat had first been sterilised. ²² It was a defence to proceedings for contravention of this prohibition for an individual to prove that he did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the meat was unfit for human consumption or was knacker meat. ²³

3.113 All of the above restrictions were subject to the application of the following provisions from the Food and Drugs Act 1955:

1. section 113 provided that a person against whom proceedings were brought was entitled to bring before the court in proceedings any person to whose act or default he alleged that the contravention of the provisions in question was due and prove that the contravention was due to the act or default of that person;
2. section 115(2) imposed restrictions upon the circumstances in which it was possible for it to be a defence in a set of proceedings that a warranty had been given that any article or substance could be lawfully sold or dealt with under the name or description or for the purpose under or for which it was sold or dealt with;
3. section 116 set out offences of applying to an article or substance a warranty or certificate of analysis given in relation to another article or substance and of giving of a false warranty in writing, and provisions relating to those offences; and
4. section 108(1)(b) provided that proceedings under section 116 had to be commenced within 12 months. ²⁴

3.114 The 1969 Regulations required any person responsible for the consignment or delivery of any butcher's meat which was unfit for human consumption, or knacker meat, in any of the circumstances covered by the Regulations, to give or send with the meat a notice to the person by whom or on whose behalf the meat was to be received. That notice was to contain information relating to the meat, including: particulars of the date of its consignment or delivery; its quantity and description; and the name and address of the person responsible for its consignment or delivery, and of the person by whom or on whose behalf it was to be received. ²⁵ The person responsible for the consignment was required to retain a copy of the notice and the person by whom or on whose behalf the consignment was received was required to retain the original. In each case, the notice was to be retained for three months after the date of the consignment and be produced for inspection to an authorising officer upon request. ²⁶

3.115 An authorised officer had, at all reasonable times, a power to examine any meat not intended for human consumption which had been sold, was offered or exposed for sale or was in the possession of, or had been deposited with or consigned to, any person for the purpose of sale or preparation for sale. The authorised officer had a further power to seize the meat and remove it in order for it to be dealt with by a Justice of the Peace (JP), if it appeared to the officer that the meat was required:

1. to be sterilised, but it had not been sterilised; or
2. to bear a notice, but it did not bear a notice. ²⁷

3.116 Having seized any meat under this power, the officer was required to inform the person in whose possession the meat was found of his intention to have it dealt with by a JP. ²⁸ Anyone liable for prosecution under the terms of the Regulations was entitled, if he attended before a JP, to be heard and to call witnesses. ²⁹ If the JP considered that the meat brought before him, whether seized under the provisions of this Regulation or not, was meat to which the Regulations applied and was required to be but had not been dealt with in accordance with the Regulations, he was required to condemn it and order it to be destroyed or to be so dealt with. ³⁰ If the JP refused to condemn the meat, the council was required to compensate the owner of the meat for any depreciation in its value resulting from its seizure and removal. ³¹

3.117 The Regulations also provided that if an authorised officer had reason to suspect that any vehicle or container contained any meat to which the Regulations applied and which was intended for sale or was in the course of delivery after sale, then he had a power to examine the contents, and, if necessary, detain the vehicle or container ³² (subject to exceptions in the case of certain vehicles). ³³ If he found any meat which was required to be but was not dealt with in accordance with the Regulations, the authorised officer was able to seize the meat and remove it as set out at paragraph 3.115.

Concerns of Environmental Health Officers in 1977

3.118 In 1977, a Working Party on Slaughterhouse Hygiene set up by the Environmental Health Officers Association and chaired by Mr F G Sugden, published a report. ³⁴ Among its recommendations were the following:

1. the particular needs for dealing with casualty animals be given further examination (paragraph 3.9);
2. legislation requiring the ante-mortem inspection of animals be introduced for the domestic trade (11.5);
3. further investigations to be made to develop an acceptable uniform system of meat inspection recording (11.10); and
4. an investigation be made into meat inspection requirements as specified by Regulations currently in force with a view to assessing the most effective system for controlling meat hygiene and safety (11.13).

3.119 The report noted that an increasing health hazard arose from the fact that certain items (eg head meat) might have either an industrial or a human food outlet. It stated in paragraph 15.23 that:

Whilst there is no objection to material handled throughout in hygienic fashion being ultimately relegated to industrial processing the converse is not the case. Where such a commodity has ostensibly left the slaughterhouse for industrial processing and a decision during transit or on arrival is taken to restore it to the edible market, danger arises from the intermediate substandard handling. This is further discussed in the section on by-products and attention is drawn to the Working Party's recommendation that a material once classified as inedible should be handled throughout, to final processing, in accordance with the Meat Sterilisation Regulations, 1969.

3.120 Concern as to what might happen after completion of the meat inspection process was repeated in paragraphs 16.23-16.28:

The system described by the Working Party in which sound stock is safely processed under hygienic conditions and full-time expert supervision would be brought to nought if some of the products of such a system were allowed to return unchecked to farm, kennel or stable. The law subscribes surprisingly little to this view, beyond limiting the removal of raw material, unfit or not intended for human food, from slaughterhouses and knackers' yards and prescribing, in the case of statutory seizure and submission to a magistrate, a procedure for destruction or prohibition of sale for food. This latter situation rarely arises as the vast majority of unfit meat is dealt with informally on the basis of its voluntary surrender to the local authority. To avoid doubts as to ownership and the destruction or disposal of unfit meat the local authority may agree to purchase such material from the owner. (16.23)

It is in the context of voluntary action or advice tendered by the local and central authorities that the vast majority of industrial utilisation of unfit and inedible (including surplus) materials from the slaughtering industry takes place. Current public opinion, however, is not satisfied to hear that even marginal amounts of hazardous or toxic material escape effective treatment. In this context the hazardous materials are the agents responsible for the spread of zoonoses; the pollutants are the odorous volatile substances emanating from heat treatment necessary for safe re-cycling of the organic chemical constituents of slaughterhouse wastes. (16.24)

The real hazards arise not only from materials which may get out of course, but from materials which may legitimately be handled raw eg, direct to feed certain animals and from lack of appreciation in the processing industry of the risks of cross-infection between the raw and finished product sides of their plant. (16.26)

Comments on hazards arising from the dual nature of certain slaughterhouse surpluses have already been made but an unsatisfactory situation can arise when on the same site edible and inedible processing takes place. Even though plant personnel may be separated there is no firm sanction to require segregated provision of sanitary and ablution facilities - a vulnerable point of cross-infection - and 'decontamination' of personnel on movement from 'dirty' to 'clean' sections. (16.27)

A complete prohibition of such mixed processing on the same site would appear a simple solution until one examines the effect both on the factory abattoir complex and the economics of by-product utilisation. (16.28)

3.121 These concerns were reflected in the Working Party's recommendations that the disposal of unfit, inedible and surplus materials from slaughterhouses should be further regulated so as to ensure:

1. that the application of the Meat Sterilisation Regulations to all such materials was beyond doubt;
2. that where edible and inedible processing was conducted on the same site, Regulations should require:
   • adequate segregation of the plant;
   • personnel and welfare facilities, including facilities for decontamination before moving to edible from inedible areas;
3. that arrangements for the disposal of such materials should be subject to prior approval by the local authorities in despatch and reception areas and that copies of the consignment notes required by the above Regulations to accompany the materials should be supplied also to the respective authorities. (16.29)
4. that an appropriate Code of Practice should be produced in consultation with the industries concerned to provide for acceptable methods of collection, storage, distribution and processing of industrial and pharmaceutical products of animal origin. (16.30)

'Operation Meathook'

3.122 Concerns among Environmental Health Officers were increased following the uncovering of an illegal market in unfit meat and knacker meat in 1980 as a result of 'Operation Meathook'. Enquiries which initially started in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham led to the discovery of a nationwide fraud in which knacker meat was being substituted for beef in the catering and food manufacturing industries.

3.123 A number of factors were believed to have led to and assisted this fraud. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health provided the Inquiry with a synopsis of 'Operation Meathook' which included the following summary:

At this time there were more knackers yards operating than there are now and farmers were paid a reasonable price for sick, injured and fallen stock. When the fraud was discovered, prices for fallen stock had reached an all-time high.

Control was exercised by local authority employees, environmental health officers and authorised meat inspectors. The meat from knackers yards was processed primarily for the animal food industries. The staining of this meat was rigorously opposed by the Pet Food Industry, in particular as marketing a stained product was difficult. Local authority officers spent little time supervising these operations as the food produced was not intended for human consumption. All operators of knackers yards were obliged to keep records of the stock they picked up, its origin and description. Due to the calibre of operative and the nature of this operation, these records were difficult to police. Equally, details of the amounts paid for stock were difficult to access by local authority officers, due to the way farmers 'prefer to do business'. Veterinary certification was infrequent as the cost of consulting a vet was often more than the value of the stock item. ³⁵

3.124 The findings of 'Operation Meathook' led the Chartered Institute to lobby for changes to legislation to make the sale of unfit meat more difficult if not impossible. ³⁶

Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982

3.125 The principal changes brought into effect by the introduction of the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 were:

1. staining was reintroduced as an alternative to sterilisation; ³⁷
2. different measures were required for different categories of meat and offal; and
3. a new system of movement permits intended to assist in tracking unfit meat was introduced.

3.126 The Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 ³⁸ revoked the Meat (Sterilisation) Regulations 1969. They applied to particular categories of 'meat' (including 'offal'), and required, unless certain exceptions applied, that the meat or offal in question be:

1. sterilised;
2. subject to restrictions on removal, before sterilisation;
3. not sold, before sterilisation; and
4. subject to restrictions on storage and freezing, before sterilisation.

3.127 One of the exceptions available in certain cases required that the meat or offal in question be stained. The discussion below deals first with the relevant categories of meat and offal, second with the procedure for staining and sterilisation, third with the requirements of the Regulations and the exceptions to those requirements, and finally with the enforcement of the Regulations. ³⁹

Categories of meat and offal

3.128 The 1982 Regulations defined 'meat' to mean carcass meat, poultry meat, and offal. Each of these terms was itself defined in the Regulations, and for present purposes the first and third are relevant:

1. 'carcass meat' was defined as the flesh of an animal, including thick or thin skirt, and heads of cattle or swine, but excluding offal; and
2. 'offal' was defined as including separate pieces of fat, but not including thick or thin skirt, heads of cattle or swine, or poultry offal.

3.129 Also relevant is the definition of 'knacker meat' which was defined as carcass meat and offal from an animal slaughtered in, or from, a carcass brought into, a knacker's yard situated in the UK. ⁴⁰

3.130 Two specific categories of offal were defined in the 1982 Regulations:

1. 'green offal' was defined as stomachs and intestines derived from animals and the contents of such organs; and
2. 'specified offal' was defined as hearts, kidneys, livers and lungs derived from an animal and which, in the case of an animal in a slaughterhouse, had been rejected as unfit for human consumption under the relevant provisions for that purpose. ⁴¹

3.131 For the purposes of the 1982 Regulations, the following categories of meat were to be presumed, until the contrary was proved, to be unfit for human consumption:

1. knacker meat; ⁴²
2. meat from any variety of cattle, sheep, pig, equine animal or goat, which had died or been slaughtered in any place other than a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard, or which had been brought to such a place after having died or been slaughtered; ⁴³
3. meat which had not been handled or kept in a slaughterhouse in a hygienic manner. ⁴⁴

Sterilisation

3.132 'Sterilisation' was defined as being:

1. treated by boiling or by steaming under pressure until every piece of meat was cooked throughout;
2. dry-rendered, digested, or solvent-processed into technical tallow, greases, glues, feeding meals or fertilisers; or
3. subjected to another process which resulted in all parts of the meat no longer having the appearance of raw meat and which inactivated all vegetative forms of human pathogenic organisms in the meat. ⁴⁵

Staining

3.133 The 1982 Regulations defined 'stained' to mean treated with a solution of the colouring agent Black PN or Brilliant Black BN (E151, Colour Index 197 No. 28440). The solution was to be of such a strength that the colouring on the stained meat was clearly visible. The definition added that for this purpose 'treated' meant that all pieces of meat not smaller than primal cuts had been opened by multiple and deep incisions, and that the whole surface of the meat had been covered with a solution as aforesaid either by immersing the meat in, or spraying or otherwise applying, the solution.

Requirements and exemptions: permitted destinations

3.134 The availability of some exceptions depended on whether it was intended to remove meat or offal to particular destinations. These destinations were listed in Regulation 17(1) as follows:

1. a hospital, medical or veterinary school, laboratory or similar institution for instructional or diagnostic purposes, a rennet manufacturer or a manufacturing chemist for the manufacture of pharmaceutical products;
2. the premises of a processor for sterilisation by him;
3. a zoo, menagerie, mink farm, maggot farm or greyhound kennels licensed by the National Greyhound Racing Club;
4. the premises of a waste food processor licensed under the provisions of the Diseases of Animals (Waste Food) Order 1973 to receive unprocessed waste food and, in addition, authorised in writing by the issuing authority to receive unsterilised meat to which these Regulations applied; ⁴⁶
5. the premises of a person for preparation before further removal to a processor or manufacturing chemist or for storage before further removal to another destination referred to in Regulation 17(1).

Requirements for sterilisation in slaughterhouses

3.135 Subject to the exceptions in the next paragraph, Regulation 6(1) required that both carcass meat at a slaughterhouse found to be unfit for human consumption and specified offal at a slaughterhouse ⁴⁷ had to be:

1. sterilised immediately; or
2. placed immediately in a room or receptacle designed for the purpose of holding meat awaiting sterilisation and bearing a notice stating that its contents were to be sterilised on the premises, and then to be sterilised at the slaughterhouse. ⁴⁸

3.136 There were two exemptions from this requirement in the case of carcass meat or specified offal which:

1. was stained by the occupier of the slaughterhouse immediately after it was brought into separate accommodation dedicated to the retention of unfit meat; ⁴⁹ or
2. was intended to be removed from the slaughterhouse under the authority of a movement permit issued pursuant to the Regulations to a destination referred to in 17(1)(a). ⁵⁰

3.137 The requirements governing movement permits are discussed at paragraphs 3.164-3.176. Reference should also be made to the discussion below of the defence available to anyone charged with contravention of Regulation 6.

3.138 Regulation 7 provided that, subject to the exceptions set out in the next paragraph, any offal other than specified offal at a slaughterhouse found to be unfit for human consumption was required:

1. to be sterilised immediately; or
2. to be placed immediately in a room or receptacle designed for the purpose of holding meat awaiting sterilisation and bearing a notice stating that its contents were to be sterilised on the premises, and then to be sterilised at the slaughterhouse. ⁵¹

3.139 There were two exemptions from this requirement that were relevant to BSE:

1. in the case of offal other than specified offal found to be unfit (including any green offal not intended to be removed in accordance with the exception at (ii) below), which was intended to be removed from the slaughterhouse under the authority of a movement permit issued pursuant to the Regulations to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1); ⁵² and
2. any green offal unfit for human consumption, and any other offal not being specified offal which was in a container the contents of which consisted mainly of green offal, which in either case was intended to be removed from the slaughterhouse to the premises of a processor for sterilisation. ⁵³

3.140 The requirements governing movement permits are discussed at paragraphs 3.164-3.176 below. Reference should also be made to the discussion below of the defence available to anyone charged with contravention of Regulation 6.

Restrictions on removal from slaughterhouses

3.141 Subject to the exceptions in paragraphs 3.142 and 3.161 below, the Regulations imposed a prohibition upon any person removing or causing or permitting to be removed from any slaughterhouse of which he was the occupier, any meat unfit for human consumption ⁵⁴ unless that meat:

1. had been sterilised; ⁵⁵
2. being carcass meat or specified offal, had been stained, and was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(b) to (e); ⁵⁶
3. being carcass meat or specified offal, was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(a); ⁵⁷
4. being offal other than specified offal, was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1). ⁵⁸

3.142 A person was exempted from the requirement to obtain a movement permit for the removal from a slaughterhouse occupied by him of:

1. any green offal intended to be delivered to the premises of a processor for sterilisation; ⁵⁹ or
2. any carcass meat or offal other than green offal if such meat was removed in a container the contents of which consisted mainly of green offal and which was intended to be delivered to the premises of a processor for sterilisation. ⁶⁰

3.143 It was a defence for any person charged with a contravention of, or a failure to comply with, Regulations 6,7 or 8 to prove that he did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the meat was unfit for human consumption. ⁶¹

Requirements for sterilisation in knacker's yards

3.144 Subject to the exceptions in the next paragraph, carcass meat and specified offal derived from an animal slaughtered in, or brought into, a knacker's yard was required to be sterilised immediately after skinning, evisceration, or cutting up (whichever operation was the last carried out at the yard). ⁶²

3.145 There were three exemptions from this requirement in the case of carcass meat or specified offal which:

1. was placed immediately after skinning, evisceration, or cutting up (whichever operation was the last carried out at the yard), in a room or receptacle designed for the purpose of holding meat awaiting sterilisation and bearing a notice stating that its contents were to be sterilised on the premises, and then to be sterilised at the yard; ⁶³ or
2. was stained at the knacker's yard immediately after skinning, evisceration, or cutting up (whichever operation was the last carried out at the yard); ⁶⁴ or
3. was intended to be removed from the knacker's yard under the authority of a movement permit to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(a). ⁶⁵

3.146 The requirements governing movement permits are discussed at paragraphs 3.164-3.176.

3.147 Subject to the exceptions in the next paragraph, any offal other than specified offal derived from an animal slaughtered in, or brought into, a knacker's yard was required immediately after evisceration:

1. to be sterilised; or
2. to be placed immediately in a room or receptacle designed for the purpose of holding meat awaiting sterilisation and bearing a notice stating that its contents were to be sterilised on the premises, and then to be sterilised at the yard. ⁶⁶

3.148 For present purposes, there were two exemptions from this requirement:

1. in the case of offal other than specified offal (including any green offal not intended to be removed in accordance with the exception at (ii) below), which was intended to be removed from the knacker's yard under the authority of a movement permit issued pursuant to the Regulations to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1); ⁶⁷
2. any green offal, and any other offal not being specified offal which was in a container the contents of which consisted mainly of green offal, which in either case was intended to be removed from the knacker's yard to the premises of a processor for sterilisation. ⁶⁸

Restrictions on removal from knacker's yards

3.149 Subject to the exceptions in the next paragraph, the Regulations imposed a prohibition upon any person removing or causing or permitting to be removed from any knacker's yard of which he was the occupier, any meat unless that meat:

1. had been sterilised; ⁶⁹
2. being carcass meat or specified offal, had been stained, and was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(b) to (e); ⁷⁰
3. being carcass meat or specified offal, and was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(a); ⁷¹
4. being offal other than specified offal, was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1). ⁷²

3.150 A person was exempted from the requirement to obtain a movement permit for the removal from a knacker's yard occupied by him:

1. of any green offal intended to be delivered to the premises of a processor for sterilisation; ⁷³ or
2. of any carcass meat or offal other than green offal if such meat was removed in a container the contents of which consisted mainly of green offal and which was intended to be delivered to the premises of a processor for sterilisation. ⁷⁴

Requirements affecting unfit meat from a place other than a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard

3.151 The Regulations imposed a prohibition upon any person removing or causing or permitting to be removed from any place of which he was the occupier, not being a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard, any meat unfit for human consumption cut from any variety of cattle, sheep, pig, equine animal or goat which had died or been slaughtered at that place or had been brought there having died or been slaughtered, unless that meat:

1. had been sterilised; ⁷⁵
2. being carcass meat or specified offal, had been stained, and was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(b) to (e); ⁷⁶
3. being carcass meat or specified offal, was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(a); ⁷⁷
4. being offal other than specified offal, and was intended and authorised by a movement permit to be delivered to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1); ⁷⁸
5. was intended to be delivered to a knacker's yard. ⁷⁹

Requirements on freezing of meat

3.152 Subject to the exceptions in the next paragraph, the Regulations imposed a prohibition on any person freezing any carcass meat which was unfit for human consumption or specified offal in a slaughterhouse or any carcass meat or specified offal in a knacker's yard unless that meat had been sterilised or stained. ⁸⁰

3.153 There were two exemptions from this prohibition:

1. in the case of any meat which was intended to be removed under the authority of a movement permit, from the slaughterhouse or knacker's yard to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(a); ⁸¹ and
2. in the case of any meat from a carcass infested with cysticercus bovis which was frozen in accordance with relevant meat inspection provisions. ⁸²

Requirements on possession for sale, and sale, of meat

3.154 Subject to the exceptions in the next paragraph, the Regulations prohibited any person from possessing for the purpose of sale or preparation for sale:

1. any meat removed from a slaughterhouse, which was unfit for human consumption;
2. any meat removed from a knacker's yard; or
3. any meat unfit for human consumption from an animal which had died or had been slaughtered at a place other than a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard, or had been brought to such a place after having died or been slaughtered;

unless that meat had been sterilised. ⁸³

3.155 There were exemptions from this prohibition in the case of any meat which was in the possession of a person:

1. while in transit under the authority of a movement permit to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(a); ⁸⁴ and
2. referred to in Regulation 17(1)(e) at his premises; and, where required by the Regulations, had been stained; ⁸⁵
3. while in transit under the authority of a movement permit to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(b) to (e); and, where required by the Regulations, had been stained; ⁸⁶
4. at premises listed in Regulation 17(1)(a) to (d) for any purpose contemplated in the provisions or with a view to its removal from those premises in accordance for the provisions relating to closure, breakdown or trade dispute [see paragraph 3.161] or while in transit from such premises in accordance with those provisions. ⁸⁷

3.156 It was a defence for any person charged with a contravention of this provision to prove:

1. that he did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the meat was unfit for human consumption or removed from a knacker's yard; or
2. that any meat removed from a slaughterhouse became unfit only after its removal. ⁸⁸

3.157 The Regulations imposed a prohibition on any person selling or offering or exposing for sale, by retail, any meat which was unfit for human consumption, or any knacker meat, unless that meat had been sterilised. ⁸⁹ For the purposes of this prohibition, a sale by retail did not include a sale of meat direct from a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1). ⁹⁰

3.158 It was a defence for any person charged with a contravention of this provision to prove that he did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the meat was meat to which this prohibition applied. ⁹¹

Requirements as to storage of meat

3.159 No person was permitted to store any unsterilised meat which was unfit, or not intended, for human consumption:

1. in the same room as any meat which was fit for human consumption, unless that meat was stored according to an arrangement which ensured that it was adequately separated from the meat which was fit for human consumption and that the arrangement had been approved by the appropriate local authority; ⁹² and
2. unless any container, wrapper, or other packaging used to hold the meat bore a notice of adequate size which was conspicuously visible and contained a distinct, legible and unambiguous statement to the effect that the meat held therein was not for human consumption, together with the name of the packer and the address at which the meat was packed. ⁹³

3.160 It was a defence for any person charged with a contravention of the provisions described in the previous paragraph to prove that he did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the meat was unfit, or not intended for, human consumption. ⁹⁴

Exemption in cases of lack of equipment or exhaustion of supplies

3.161 Meat unfit for human consumption and knacker meat could be removed unsterilised and unstained from a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard which was not equipped for the sterilisation of meat provided that:

1. all the destinations referred to in Regulation 17(1) ⁹⁵ and to which it was reasonably practicable to deliver that meat were, by reason of permanent or temporary closure of the premises or breakdown of machinery or a trade dispute, unable to receive the meat;
2. the meat was transported in a vehicle or impervious container which was locked or sealed at all times and which bore a notice of adequate size which was conspicuously visible and contained a distinct, legible and unambiguous statement that the meat contained therein was not for human consumption; and
3. the meat was 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 or knacker's yard was situated, to a place where it was buried or destroyed. ⁹⁶

3.162 Further, carcass meat unfit for human consumption, or specified offal and knacker meat consisting of carcass meat or specified offal, could be removed unsterilised and unstained from a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard which had exhausted, and could not practicably replenish, its supplies of staining fluid, to a destination referred to in Regulation 17(1)(b) to (d). This could be done if that meat was delivered in accordance with an arrangement in writing with, and supervised by, an authorised officer of the local authority. ⁹⁷

3.163 The removal of any meat in accordance with these provisions exempted the occupier of the slaughterhouse or knacker's yard from any requirement imposed by the Regulations to sterilise or stain the meat. ⁹⁸