UK Offence Report

The Animal By-Products (Wales) Regulations 2003

Welsh Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 2756 — creates 21 criminal offences.

21offences created
0recorded in force
0revoked
Made
29 October 2003
In force from
31 October 2003
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries
Made under
European Communities Act 1972

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations make provision in Wales for the administration and enforcement of Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3rd October 2002 laying down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption (OJ No. L273, 10.10.2002, p.1) (“the Community Regulation”). They revoke the Animal By-Products Order 1999, S.I. 1999/646, and the Animal By-Products (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2001, S.I. 2001/1735 (W.122). They also make provision for the enforcement of the following measures, which amend the Community Regulation and make provision for transitional arrangements — a Commission Regulation (EC) No. 808/2003 amending Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption; b Commission Regulation (EC) No. 811/2003 implementing Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the intra-specifies recycling ban for fish, the burial and burning of animal by-products and certain transitional measures; c Commission Regulation (EC) No. 813/2003 on transitional measures under Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the collection, transport and disposal of former foodstuffs; d Commission Decision 2003/320/EC on transitional measures under Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the use in feed of used cooking oil; e Commission Decision 2003/321/EC on transitional measures under Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the processing standards for mammalian blood; f Commission Decision 2003/326/EC on transitional measures under Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the separation of Category 2 and Category 3 oleochemical plants; g Commission Decision 2003/327/EC on transitional measures under Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the low capacity incineration or co-incineration plants which do not incinerate or co-incinerate specified risk material or carcases containing them; Provision in Wales for the administration and enforcement of measures in the Community Regulation in relation to export and trade between Member States is intended to be made by a separate instrument. The Community Regulation categorises material comprising or containing animal by-products to which these Regulations apply as — category 1 material where the by-products are body parts of animals suspected of being infected with, confirmed with or killed in the eradication of, a transmissible spongiform encepalopathy (“TSE”), animals which are not farmed or wild (unless the wild animals are suspected of being infected with transmissible diseases), in particular pet animals, zoo animals and circus animals, and experimental animals; are specified risk material (“SRM”) under Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001, and the entire bodies of dead animals containing SRM if it was not removed on disposal; have been administered with or contain residues of certain environmental contaminants; are collected from treating waste water from category 1 processing plants or premises where SRM is removed; are catering waste from means of transport operating internationally; and are category 1 material mixed with category 2 and 3 material; category 2 material where the by-products are manure and digestive tract content; are collected from treating waste from slaughterhouses other than the type noted above; contain residues of veterinary drugs and certain contaminants; are not category 1 material but are imported from non-member States and fail Community import inspections but are not re-exported or accepted under the Community import rules; are animals and parts of animals that are not category 1 material that were not slaughtered for human consumption; are category 2 material mixed with category 3 material; and are not either category 1 or category 3 material; category 3 material where the by-products derive from animals which are fit for human consumption in accordance with Community legislation and are parts of such animals not intended for human consumption for commercial reasons; parts of such animals not themselves fit for human consumption; hides, skins, hooves, horns, pig bristles and feathers (and (d) non-ruminant blood) from animals identified as such from inspections before being slaughtered in a slaughterhouse; derived from the productions of products intended for human consumption; former foodstuffs of animal origin other than catering waste no longer intended for human consumption for commercial reasons or due to defects which present no risk to humans; raw milk from animals showing no clinical signs of a disease communicable through that product; from sea animals, except sea mammals, caught in the open sea for the purposes of fishmeal production; from fish from plants manufacturing fish products for human consumption; shells, hatchery and cracked egg by-products (and (k) blood, hides, skins, hooves, feathers, wool, horns hair and fur) from animals showing no clinical signs of a disease communicable through that product; and catering waste other than from means of transport operating internationally. The Regulations provide as follows: a It is a specific offence to categorise, collect, transport, dispose, store, process or use, category 1, category 2, or category 3 material other than in accordance with the Community Regulation (regulations 4, 5 and 6); b It is a specific offence to collect, transport, identify or store animal by-products other than in accordance with the Community Regulation (regulation 8); c Feeding unprocessed animal by-products to farmed animals is prohibited and access by such animals to animal by-products is controlled (regulation 9). Regulation 10 enforces the restrictions on use of animal by-products in Article 22 of the Community Regulation. This includes intra-species re-cycling, feeding catering waste to farm animals and the application of organic fertilisers on pasture land. Regulation 11 defines pasture land. Regulation 12 permits the intra-species re-cycling of fish after 1 January 2004. Until then it is permitted by a transitional measure in Part VI of Schedule 4. Regulations 13 to 16 provide for the approval of premises for the different types of treatment of animal by-products. Regulation 16 provides that composting on premises where the composted material originated do not need approval if the conditions of that regulation are complied with. Regulations 17 to 21 provide for checks at plants, sampling and approved laboratories. Regulations 22 to 24 regulate placing on the market of various processed animal by-products. Regulations 25 to 27 provide derogations relating to the use of animal by-products for taxidermy and feeding certain specified animals. Regulation 28 permits the burial of pet animals. Regulation 29 and 30 provide for burial or burning in the event of a disease outbreak or for burning and burial of bees and apiculture products. Regulations 31 to 38 provide for record keeping. Regulations 39 to 41 provide for applications for approvals, the suspension or revocation of approvals and an appeal against a notice to amend, suspend or revoke an approval. Under regulations 42 to 44 an inspector can serve a notice requiring the disposal of animal by-product or catering waste and requiring cleansing and disinfection of any vehicle, container or premises. Any notice served under these Regulations must be complied with at the expense of the person on whom the notice is served. Regulations 45 and 46 provide powers of entry and an offence of obstructing an inspector. Schedule 1 makes provision for biogas and composting plants, and Schedule 2 provides for testing methods. Schedule 3 contains transitional provisions relating to intra-species re-cycling of fish, disposal of former foodstuffs, used cooking oils in animal feed, disposal of mammalian blood, oloechemical plants and low capacity incinerators. Breach of the Regulations is an offence punishable on summary conviction to a fine up to the statutory maximum or six months imprisonment. On indictment the penalty is an unlimited fine or two years imprisonment (regulation 48). The Regulations are enforced by the local authority except in specified premises (regulation 49). A Regulatory appraisal has been prepared and is available from the Animal Health Division, National Assembly for Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ.

Offences created by this instrument

What Parliament said about it

Hansard was searched for this instrument by name and returned nothing. That is the ordinary outcome: an instrument laid under the negative procedure is usually never debated, and becomes law without a word said about it in either House.

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

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