Animal by-products regulation: due in force on 1 May 2003

Regulation number 1774/2002 laying down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption will come into force this Thursday 1 May 2003. The Regulation can be accessed by clicking here

The Regulation introduces strict control on the disposal of animal by-products. The purpose of this Regulation is to protect human and animal health in the wake of such epidemics as foot and mouth and BSE.

The Regulation lays down animal and public health rules for:

• The collection, transport, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of animal by-products, to prevent these products from presenting a risk to animal or public health; The placing on the market, and in certain specific cases, the export and transit of animal by-products and those products derived there from. The Regulation does not apply to raw pet food, liquid milk and colostrums disposed of or used on the farm of origin, wild animals, ova, embryos and semen intended for breeding purposes, transit by sea or by air nor catering waste, unless:
  • From means of transport operating internationally;
  • Destined for animal consumption; or
  • Destined for use in a bio-gas plant or for composting.

Categories of Animal By-Products

Animal by-products are to be divided into three categories.

Category 1

Category 1 to include body parts of animals suspected of being infected by a TSE, zoo, circus or experimental animals, or wild animals when suspected of being infected with diseases communicable to humans or animals, products of animal origin containing residues of environmental contaminates, all animal material collected when treating waste water, catering waste from means of transport operating internationally. Category 1 material must be disposed of by way of approved incineration plant, processed by an approved method in a approved processing plant and intermediate handling or storage of such material shall only take place in approved category 1 intermediate plants. International catering waste may, however, be disposed of as waste by burying in an approved land fill.

Category 1 material is therefore the most strictly controlled.

Category 2

Category 2 material includes such animal by-products as manure and digestive tract content, all animal materials collected when treating waste water from slaughter houses, products of animal origin containing residues of veterinary drugs and contaminants, products of animal origin imported from non-Member countries other than category 1 material, animals and parts of animals that die other than by being slaughtered for human consumption. Category 2 material must be disposed directly in an approved incineration plant, processed in a approved processing plant.

In the case of manure, digestive tract content separated from the digestive tract, milk and colostrums, if the competent authority does not consider them to present a risk of spreading any serious transmissible disease, these may be used without processes as raw material by a bio-gas plant or in a composting plant, applied to land or transformed in a bio-gas plant or composted.

Category 3

Category 3 material will include animal by-products or parts of slaughtered animals, which are fit for human consumption but are not intended for such and former foodstuffs of animal origin, other than catering waste, which are no longer intended for human consumption for commercial reasons or due to problems of manufacturing or packaging defects or to other defects which do not present any risk to humans or animals.

Category 3 material will also include parts of slaughtered animals which are rejected as unfit for human consumption, that are not infected by any signs of disease, hides and skins, hooves and pig gristle and feathers and blood (from animals other than ruminants) originating from animals that are slaughtered in a slaughter house, after undergoing anti-mortem inspection. Animal by-products derived from the production of products intended for human consumption, raw milk and shells/hatchery by-products/cracked egg by -products, hides and skins from animals that did not show clinical signs of any diseased communicable through that product to humans or animals, fish or other sea animals, except sea mammals, caught in the open sea, for the purposes of fish meal production and fresh by-products from fish from plant manufacturing and fish products for human consumption.

Category 3 material is to be directly disposed of by an approved incineration plant, processed by an approved processing plant, transformed in an approved technical plant, used as raw material in a pet food plant as approved, transformed in a bio-gas plant or in a composting plant, and in the case of catering waste, transformed in a bio-gas plant and for fish origin ensiled or composted in accordance with rules laid down in Article 33(2).

Category 3 material therefore encompasses all farming "fallen stock" as well as all commercial animal waste and out of date meat, eggs and milk however catering waste is excluded.

Any mixture of category waste will be viewed as the strictest category present in it. For instance a mix of category 1 and 3 waste will be viewed as category 1 in its entirety.

Records

Within the EU, any person consigning, transporting or receiving animal by-products must keep a record of such consignment. Commercial documents must specify:

• The date on which the materials taken from the premises;
• The description of the material;
• The quantity of the material;
• The place of origin of the material;
• The name and the address of the carrier;
• The name and the address of the receiver and, if applicable, the approval number; and if appropriate:
  • the approval number of the plant of origin, and
  • the nature and the method of the treatment.

Such commercial documentation must be produced "at least" in triplicate. Health certificates, where required must be issued and signed by the competent authority. Such documents must be kept for a period of at least two years for presentation to the competent authority.

In addition, outside the EU, non-Member countries intending to import products should implement a hygiene standard which is at least equal or equivalent to that in the EU and a system of approval together with a community inspection procedure should be adopted. Imported products and animal by-products that pass through the community should be accompanied by a health certificate and confirmation that the place of destination complies with the provisions of the Regulations.

Processing, Oleochemical, Biogas and Composting Plants

Intermediate plants, storage plants, incineration and co-incineration plants are all subject to approval by the competent authority. Various requirements are laid down for category 1, 2 or 3 plants, and these are laid out in the annexes to the Regulations.

Pet Food/Chews

Specific requirements are made from the placing on the market and use of processed animal proteins and other processed products that could be used as feed material, pet food, dog chews and technical products in approval of related plants (Chapter IV, Article 16-20.)

Prohibition on Animal Feed

As a precautionary measure the practice of feeding an animal species with proteins derived from the bodies, or parts of bodies of the same species has been prohibited as this presents a risk of spreading disease. (Therefore amending Directive 90/425/EEC).

Derogations

Member States may authorise certain derogations, such as:

• The use of animal by-products for diagnostic, education and research purposes;
• Taxidermy purposes for the feeding of certain animal by-product material to certain animals such as zoo and circus animals.

Derogations concerning the disposal of animal by-products permitted are as follows:

• Dead pet animals and
• Certain category 1, 2 and 3 material where the animal by-products originate in the remote areas. These may be disposed of as waste by burning or burial on sites.

Application

The Regulation is to be directly applicable in all Member States and will come into force on 1 May 2003. However, the introduction of the Regulations for most food companies has been extended until December 2005. But a limited number of retailers, in particular those selling cooked meat over the counter, have been excluded from this extension and will have to comply with the new rules from 1st May.

A "transitional" exemption for package waste has been permitted until 2005 as rendering plants cannot take packaging.

Summary

The Regulation is designed to reduce the amount of animal by-product waste ending up in landfill sites along with concern about the affect of leaving such material in the ground. It is also designed to prevent the feeding of animal by-products to live stock, the practice deemed responsible for the BSE outbreak. The difficulty with this Regulation, is not so much the principles behind it but rather how it is to be enforced and enacted. The UK has a limited number of industrial incinerators of which it is uncertain whether or not they would have capacity to deal with the vastly increased workload the Regulation would stipulate.

The requirement for triplicate documentation, an "audit trail" for any transportation or supply of animal by-products, and the retention of relevant documents for a period of two years, reinforces the requirement for traceability within the food chain. However, this is likely to be regarded as a further administrative burden on farmers and unnecessary red tape.

The requirement for "approvals" from competent authorities and regular inspections would similarly increase the administrative burden on DEFRA and may call into question the enforceability within the UK of this Regulation . To some extent there has been a respite provided by the extension of time for the introduction of these Regulations for most food companies until December 2005 and the government and farming unions have agreed to co-fund a national collection in disposal scheme for carcasses. However, this does not negate the need for the putting in place of a proper infrastructure of incinerator plants and transport network in order for the implementation of this Regulation to be possible. Most catering waste, such as from pubs and restaurants are currently exempted but if the principles underlying the current Regulation remain, it is likely that this area will be next to be regulated.

For further information, please contact Mark Rutter by e-mail at mark.rutter@cms-cmck.com or alternatively by telephone on + 44 (0)20 7367 2503 Jessica Burt by e-mail at jessica.burt@cms-cmck.com or alternatively by telephone on + 44 (0)20 7367 3589.