Volume 9: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Part 2: Scotland
7. Setting the scene
The slaughtering industry

7.5 Some Scottish cattle moved across the border to England for slaughtering, while at the same time, cattle moved from the rest of Great Britain for slaughtering in Scottish abattoirs. In general, however, the slaughtering industry was not so large in Scotland as it was in England and Wales, with the result that abattoirs tended to source their cattle from further away. ¹

7.6 Scotland relied more heavily on the overseas export of its meat than did the rest of Great Britain, and a higher proportion of its slaughterhouses were export-approved. ² In 1993 around 29,000 tonnes of beef with a market value of about £90 million (representing one-sixth of all beef produced in Scotland) was exported from Scotland to European Union (EU) Member States. ³ Export-approved slaughterhouses had to be inspected monthly by veterinary officials from the State Veterinary Service (SVS) in addition to the meat inspectors appointed by the relevant local authority to enforce meat hygiene legislation. ⁴ The Inquiry was told that this resulted in less variation in conditions and standards among slaughterhouses in Scotland than there was in England during the period before the Meat Hygiene Service came into operation throughout Great Britain (in 1995). ⁵ Furthermore, hygiene standards in export plants were generally higher than in those which processed meat for the domestic market only. ⁶ Germany was one of Scotland's main export markets, and plant operators were aware of the high standards being demanded by the German Government. ⁷

7.7 A second distinguishing feature of the industry in Scotland was that local authorities had been required to carry out ante-mortem inspection of every animal slaughtered in domestic or export market slaughterhouses since 1961. Until 1993 this could be done by meat inspectors in domestic slaughterhouses. Thereafter they were brought into line with export slaughterhouses, which required inspection by a veterinary officer. In the rest of the UK there was no requirement for ante-mortem inspection in domestic slaughterhouses until 1991, although it had been a requirement in export slaughterhouses since 1981.