22 December 1997: BSE - Specified Risk Material (SRM): Unilateral Controls on Imports of Animal Products

Specified Risk Material (SRM): Unilateral Controls on Imports of Animal Products

The controls on imports are provided for in the Specified Risk Material Order 1997. in short, it requires imports - including from other EU Member States - of certain animal products which are destined for food or animal feed use (including petfood) to be accompanied by a supplementary official veterinary certificate (as specified in the Order). Within the certificate is the list of SRMs which must not be incorporated in the various products. These controls are additional to existing rules on imports of animal products

The following is a list of the products destined for food or feed use which will need to be accompanied by the certificate:

• Fresh meat, as defined in regulation 2 of the Fresh meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995
• Minced meat and meat preparations, as defined in regulation 2 of the Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations 1995
• Meat products, meat extracts, greaves and meat powder as defined in regulation of the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1994
• Milk products for human consumption containing gelatin or tallow
• Fishery products for human consumption containing gelatin or tallow
• Egg products for human consumption containing gelatin or tallow
• Snails or frogs legs for human consumption containing gelatin or tallow
• Rendered animal fat, as defined in regulation 2 of the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1994 (including tallow)
• Feeding stuffs (including petfood)
• Processed animal protein, including gelatin
• Bones and bone products

Import of the above products will only be permitted if the product:

• was produced before 1 January 1998; or
• does not contain and was not derived from SRM; or
• does not contain, and was not derived from bovine, ovine and caprine materials other than those derived from animals born, reared and slaughtered in New Zealand or Australia.

The requirement for a declaration will apply to all products listed above which are destined fro food or feed use and which are imported on or after 1 January 1998. There will be no exemption for consignments which are already in transit on their way to the Community (including those arriving from Australia and New Zealand). Products which are not for food or feed (such as gelatin for use in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals) will not require the additional certification. Products from Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands will also not required the additional certification.

The list of products is long. But it does not cover products which contain no material of bovine, ovine or caprine origin. Poultry, game, rabbit and pig meat would not therefore require the additional certification but products containing theses meats and other bovine, ovine or caprine material would - for example, poultry meat preparations containing gelatin.

The controls form an interim measure pending the application of Community-wide rules. It is hoped that from 1 April 1998 the controls can be adjusted to take account of new Community legislation. In particular it is hoped that controls on the removal and destruction of SRM across the Community will mean that the import controls would no longer need to be applied to imports from other EU Member States.