Food Law News - UK - 2009


FSA Local Authority Letter (ENF/E/09/029), 30 June 2009

MEAT HYGIENE – FSA Letter: Amendment to the Wild Game Guide for Retailers Supplying Wild Game under the Hunter’s Exemption / Home Slaughter of Livestock: A Guide to the Law in England

We are writing to draw your attention to the two changes that have been made to the guidance produced by the Food Standards Agency.

Amendment to the Wild Game Guide for retailers supplying wild game under the hunter’s exemption

Following recent legal advice, the Agency’s Wild Game Guide has been amended to clarify the situation for retailers who sell game meat supplied under the hunter’s exemption. The amendment makes it clear that game or game meat supplied under the hunter’s exemption cannot then be sold under the retailer to retailer exemption. The changes that have been made to the Guide are shown in bold text on the attached extract from the relevant part of the Guide.

A copy of the revised Guide and the annexes are available from the Agency’s website at: http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/meat/wildgameguidance

Home slaughter of livestock: a guide to the law in England

This Guide has been updated and a copy of Home Slaughter of Livestock: A Guide to the Law in England is attached. It replaces the previous “Private Kill Guidance” distributed to local authorities in England and other interested parties when it was last revised in March 2006.

It is applicable in England. There are separate, parallel, guides in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

It has been extensively re-written to reflect changes to the legislation, particularly for BSE testing and to reflect the European Commission’s views that the application of the TSE controls should also apply to home slaughter. We have also tried to clarify the text throughout the Guide, explaining that, except in certain limited circumstances, home slaughter of livestock is illegal.

A copy of the revised Guide and the annexes are available from the Agency’s website at: http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/guidancenotes/meatregsguid/livestockguidance/

Illegal Meat

We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that meat carcases prepared lawfully in approved premises, should always bear a health mark. Enforcement officers should therefore be vigilant in looking for meat from unstamped carcases of meat on the market

We hope that you will find Home Slaughter of Livestock: A Guide to the Law in England helpful but if you have any queries about this guidance or the Wild Game Guide please contact the FSA.


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