Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/624 of 8 February 2019 concerning specific rules for the performance of official controls on the production of meat and for production and relaying areas of live bivalve molluscs in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance)Text with EEA relevance

• Published date: 17 May 2019
• Subject Matter: legislazione veterinaria,legislación veterinaria,législation vétérinaire
• Official Gazette Publication: Gazzetta ufficiale dell'Unione europea, L 131, 17 maggio 2019,Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, L 131, 17 de mayo de 2019,Journal officiel de l'Union européenne, L 131, 17 mai 2019

02019R0624 — EN — 21.09.2021 — 001.001

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►B COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2019/624 of 8 February 2019 concerning specific rules for the performance of official controls on the production of meat and for production and relaying areas of live bivalve molluscs in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance) (OJ L 131 17.5.2019, p. 1)

Amended by:

		Official Journal
		No	page	date
►M1	COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2021/1422 of 26 April 2021	L 307	1	1.9.2021

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▼B

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2019/624

of 8 February 2019

concerning specific rules for the performance of official controls on the production of meat and for production and relaying areas of live bivalve molluscs in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council

(Text with EEA relevance)

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation lays down specific rules concerning the performance of the official controls referred to in Article 18(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 carried out on products of animal origin.

Those specific rules cover:

(a)

criteria and conditions to determine

(i)

when the ante-mortem inspection in certain slaughterhouses may be performed under the supervision or under the responsibility of an official veterinarian;

(ii)

when the ante-mortem inspection may be performed outside the slaughterhouse in case of emergency slaughter;

(iii)

when the ante-mortem inspections may be performed at the holding of provenance;

(iv)

the guarantees to be in place for the performance of post-mortem inspections and auditing activities under the responsibility of the official veterinarian as referred to in Article 18(2)(c) and (d) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625;

(v)

derogations from Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 regarding the classification of production and relaying areas in relation to Pectinidae, marine gastropods and Holothuroidea;

(vi)

where the official controls in cutting plants may be performed by staff designated by the competent authorities for that purpose and who are appropriately trained;

(b)

the establishment of specific derogations in respect of Rangifer tarandus tarandus, Lagopus lagopus and Lagopus mutus in order to allow the continuation of longstanding local and traditional customs and practices;

(c)

the establishment of specific minimum requirements, including training requirements for the official veterinarian, the official auxiliary and the staff designated by the competent authorities, to ensure adequate performance of the tasks described in Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625;

(d)

the establishment of appropriate minimum training requirements for slaughterhouse staff who assist in performing the tasks described in Article 18(3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.

Article 2

Definitions

The following definitions shall apply for the purpose of this Regulation:

(1)

‘slaughterhouse’ means slaughterhouse as defined in point 1.16 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(2)

‘holding of provenance’ means the holding where the animals were last reared. In the case of semi-domesticated cervids as defined in point 2(q) of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1 ), it includes round-ups intended to select animals for slaughter;

(3)

‘production area’ means a production area as defined in point 2.5 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(4)

‘relaying area’ means a relaying area as defined in point 2.6 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(5)

‘staff designated by the competent authorities’ means a person other than the official auxiliary and the official veterinarian, who is qualified in accordance with this Regulation to act in such a capacity in cutting plants and to whom the competent authorities assign the performance of specific actions;

(6)

‘risk analysis’ means risk analysis as defined in Article 3(10) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 2 );

(7)

‘cutting plant’ means a cutting plant as defined in point 1.17 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(8)

‘poultry’ means poultry as defined in point 1.3 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(9)

‘lagomorphs’ means lagomorphs as defined in point 1.4 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(10)

‘food business operator’ means a food business operator as defined in Article 3(3) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002;

(11)

‘domestic ungulates’ means domestic ungulates as defined in point 1.2 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(12)

‘meat’ means meat as defined in point 1.1 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(13)

‘farmed game’ means farmed game as defined in point 1.6 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(14)

‘final consumer’ means a final consumer as defined in Article 3(18) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002;

(15)

‘retail’ means retail as defined in Article 3(7) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002;

(16)

‘establishment’ means an establishment as defined in Article 2(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004;

(17)

‘Low-capacity slaughterhouse’ means a slaughterhouse designated by the competent authorities on the basis of a risk analysis and in which slaughtering takes place only during part of the working day or takes place during the whole working day but not on each working day of the week;

(18)

‘Low-capacity game-handling establishment’ means a game-handling establishment designated by the competent authorities on the basis of a risk analysis and in which game-handling takes place only during part of the working day or takes place during the whole working day but not on each working day of the week;

(19)

‘livestock unit’ means a livestock unit as defined in Article 17(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009;

(20)

‘small wild game’ means small wild game as defined in point 1.7 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(21)

‘game-handling establishment’ means a game-handling establishment as defined in point 1.18 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(22)

‘dispatch centre’ means a dispatch centre as defined in point 2.7 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(23)

‘bivalve molluscs’ means bivalve molluscs as defined in point 2.1 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(24)

‘processing’ means processing as defined in Article 2(1)(m) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004;

(25)

‘viscera’ means viscera as defined in point 1.12 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;

(26)

‘primary production’ means primary production as defined in Article 3(17) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002;

(27)

‘milk production holding’ means a milk production holding as defined in point 4.2 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.

Article 3

Criteria and conditions establishing when ante-mortem inspections in certain slaughterhouses may be performed by an official auxiliary

1.

By way of derogation from Article 18(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, ante-mortem inspections may be performed by an official auxiliary under the supervision of the official veterinarian on species other than poultry and lagomorphs, provided that the procedures applied in the slaughterhouse comply with the following criteria and conditions:

(a)

the tasks within ante-mortem inspections are of a purely practical nature and only concern one or more of the following:

(i)

verification that the food business operator complies with the requirements related to food chain information and to the animal's identity check;

(ii)

the preselection of animals showing possible abnormalities as regards human health, animal health and animal welfare requirements;

(b)

the official veterinarian is immediately informed by the official auxiliary performing the inspection when possible abnormalities are observed or suspected and the official veterinarian then carries out the ante-mortem inspection in person; and

(c)

the official veterinarian regularly verifies that the official auxiliary is carrying out his/her tasks properly.

2.

By way of derogation from Article 18(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, ante-mortem inspections may be performed on all species by an official auxiliary in a slaughterhouse under the responsibility of the official veterinarian, provided that the following criteria and conditions are met:

(a)

an ante-mortem inspection has already been carried out by the official veterinarian at the holding of provenance in accordance with Article 5;

(b)

the official veterinarian is immediately informed by the official auxiliary performing the inspection when possible abnormalities are observed or suspected and the official veterinarian then carries out the ante-mortem inspection in person;

and

(c)

the official veterinarian regularly verifies that the official auxiliary is carrying out his/her tasks properly.

3.

...