S.L. 36.38 ст. 8Further requirements.

The following requirements shall be further observed by the licensee:

(a) Premises, instruments, working equipment and plant used for slaughtering work and storing meat must be used solely for these purposes.

(b) Poultry meat and containers thereof must not come into direct contact with the ground.

(c) Feathers must be taken away immediately after plucking.

(d) The use of disinfectants, detergents and pesticides must not affect the fitness of the meat for consumption.

(e) Persons who may contaminate meat shall be prohibited from slaughtering or handling it, in particular if such persons are: - suffering from or suspected of suffering from typhoid fever, paratyphoid A and B, salmonellosis, dysentery, hepatitis, gastro-enteritis, scarlet fever or carriers of these diseases; - suffering or suspected of suffering from a contagious or infectious skin disease; - exercising at the same time an activity which might cause microbes to be transmitted to meat; - wearing a bandage on the hands, other than a water-proof dressing protecting a non-infected wound.

(f) A medical certificate shall be required from every person working on poultry meat, attesting that there is no impediment to such employment; the certificate must be renewed annually and whenever requested by the official veterinarian; it shall always be available to the latter. The licensee shall ensure that all employees in his establishment shall be educated on the importance of personal hygiene and basic food safety principles. The licensee shall also be responsible for maintaining amongst his employees an awareness of any possible medical condition that may develop which might affect their employment.

(g) Poultry for slaughter must undergo ante-mortem inspection within twenty-four hours of arrival at the slaughterhouse. The inspection must be repeated immediately before slaughter if more than twenty-four hours have elapsed since the ante-mortem inspection. The ante-mortem inspection may be restricted to detecting injuries received during transport if the poultry has been inspected at the farm of origin within the last twenty-four hours and found to be healthy. In addition, the identity of the poultry must be proved on arrival at the slaughterhouse.

(h) The ante-mortem inspection must be carried out under suitable lighting and must determine: - whether the poultry is suffering from a disease which can be transmitted to humans or animals, whether it shows symptoms, or whether its general condition is such as to indicate that the disease may occur; - whether it shows symptoms of a disorder affecting its general condition which may make the meat unfit for human consumption.

(i) Poultry suffering from fowl plague, Newcastle disease, rabies, salmonellosis, cholera or ornithosis shall be declared unfit for human consumption.

(j) Poultry may not be slaughtered for human consumption as fresh meat where -- from the presence of sick poultry in the slaughterhouse, - and from health information relating to their origin, it is established that they have been in contact with birds suffering from fowl plague, Newcastle disease, rabies, salmonellosis, cholera or ornithosis in such circumstances that the disease might have been transmitted to them.

(k) The poultry referred to in paragraphs (h), (i) or (j) above must be slaughtered separately and after the slaughter of all other poultry.

(l) Poultry brought into slaughter premises must be slaughtered immediately after stunning.

(m) Bleeding must be complete and carried out in such a way that the blood cannot cause contamination outside the place of slaughter.

(n) Slaughtered poultry must be plucked immediately and completely.

(o) Evisceration must be carried out immediately. The carcass must be opened in such a way that the cavities and all the viscera can be inspected. For this purpose the liver, spleen and digestive tract must be extruded from the carcass in such a way that it is not contaminated and that the natural connections of those viscera remain until inspection.

(p) After inspection the viscera which have been removed must be separated immediately from the carcass, and the parts unfit far human consumption removed at once. Viscera and parts of viscera remaining in the carcass must, with the exception of the kidneys, be removed entirely, if possible under satisfactory hygienic conditions.

(q) It is forbidden to inflate poultry meat, cleanse it with cloth or fill the carcass with anything other than edible offal from poultry slaughtered in the slaughterhouse. Parts of poultry and offal must be packed in the manner described in paragraphs (y) and (z) of this regulation.

(r) It is forbidden to cut the carcass or remove or treat the poultry meat before the inspection has been completed. The official veterinarian may prescribe any other handling required by the inspection.

(s) Detained meat declared unfit for human consumption, feathers and waste must be removed as soon as possible to the rooms, spaces or containers provided for in paragraphs (h), (i) and (j) of regulation 6 and must be so handled that contamination is kept to a minimum.

(t) After inspection and evisceration fresh poultry meat must be immediately cleaned and chilled in such a manner as to ensure that a continuous high level of hygiene is maintained.

(u) All parts of the animal must be inspected immediately after slaughter. Post-mortem inspection must be carried out under suitable lighting.

(v) The health markings must be made under the responsibility of the official veterinarian, who shall keep and maintain for that purpose: - instruments for making the health marking on meat, to be handed to the assistant staff only at the actual time of marking and for the length of time necessary for this purpose; - labels and wrappers where these already bear the stamp or mark provided for in paragraph (w) below and the seals referred to in paragraph (w) below. These labels, wrappers and seals shall be handed over in the required number to the assistant staff at the time when they must be used.

(w) The health marking shall consist of the following:

(i) the seal must be such that it cannot be re-used; it must be of resistant material meeting all hygienic requirements and large enough for the following compulsory information to appear on it in perfectly legible characters: - in the centre, the veterinary approval number of the slaughterhouse, - date of slaughter or batch number that indicates such a date. The letters and figures must be at least two millimetres high;

(ii) for packed carcasses and parts of carcasses, a mark stamped on the wrapper, which is closed in such a way that it cannot be re-used after opening. The wrapper must be of sufficiently strong material which meets all hygienic requirements, which is transparent and cannot transmit to the meat substances which may alter the nature, substance or quality of the food or which are harmful to human health; the mark must give the same information as that required for the seal and be printed in characters of the same size;

(iii) for the offal not contained in the carcass, a mark stamped on the wrapper which must be closed, as described under sub-paragraph (ii) above or a stamp impressed on a label which is clearly visible and firmly fixed to the packaging. The label must be attached in such a way that it is destroyed when the packaging is opened. The stamp must be an oval ink stamp six point five centimetres wide and four point five centimetres high. The following information must appear on it in perfectly legible characters: - veterinary approval number of the slaughterhouse; - batch number. The letters must be point eight centimetres high and the figures one point one centimetres high.

(x) After the chilling provided for in paragraph (t), fresh poultry meat must be kept at a temperature that must not at any time exceed + 4 degrees Celsius.

(y) Packaging (e.g. packing cases, paperboard boxes) must meet all hygienic requirements, in particular: - they may not affect the oganoleptic character of the meat; - they may not transmit to the meat substances which are harmful to human health; - they must be strong enough to protect the meat adequately during transport and handling. Packing may only be re-used for meat when they are made of non-corrodible material which is easy to cleanse and has first bean cleaned and disinfected.

(z) When fresh meat is packed in a packing material (e.g. plastic sheet) which is in direct contact with it, this must be done in accordance with hygienic requirements. Such packing must be transparent, colourless and meet the requirements of paragraph (y) above; they may rot be re-used for packing meat. Parts of poultry or offal separated from the carcass must always be wrapped in a firmly sealed, protective cover satisfying the above criteria.