Statutory Instruments
1997 No. 3062

FOOD
The Specified Risk Material (Amendment) Regulations 1997

Made
23rd December 1997

Laid before Parliament
23rd December 1997

Coming into force
1st January 1998

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Wales, acting jointly, in relation to England and Wales, and the Secretary of State for Scotland in relation to Scotland, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 6(4), 16(1)(a), (b) and (f), 26 and 48(1) of, and paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 1 to, the Food Safety Act 1990(1), and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, after consultation in accordance with section 48(4) of that Act with such organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests likely to be substantially affected by the Regulations, hereby make the following Regulations:—

Title and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Specified Risk Material (Amendment) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 1st January 1998.

Amendment of the Specified Risk Material Regulations 1997

2.—(1) The Specified Risk Material Regulations 1997(2) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) At the end of regulation 7 there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(5) This regulation shall not apply to a food containing specified risk material derived only from animals which were slaughtered or died outside the United Kingdom which is either—

(a)a food not listed in Schedule 1 to the Specified Risk Material Order 1997(3); or

(b)a food which is so listed, but it was, or any ingredients in it containing specified risk material were, imported in accordance with article 6 of that Order.”.

(3) At the end of regulation 19 there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(2) This regulation shall not apply to a carcase of a sheep or goat slaughtered before 1st January 1998.”.

Jack Cunningham
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
22nd December 1997

Frank Dobson
Secretary of State for Health
22nd December 1997

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Wales

Win Griffiths
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office
23rd December 1997

Henry McLeish
Minister of State, Scottish Office
22nd December 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)
This Regulations amend the Specified Risk Material Regulations 1997, which come into force on 1st January, in two respects to remove burdens imposed under the Regulations which were not intended.
Firstly, an addition to regulation 7 provides that it does not apply to two descriptions of food containing specified risk material derived only from animals which were slaughtered or have died outside the United Kingdom. These are food not listed in Schedule 1 to the Specified Risk Material Order 1997 (which relates to import certificates) or food which is so listed, but which was, or any ingredients in it containing specified risk material were, imported in accordance with article 6 of that Order.
Secondly, an addition to regulation 19 provides that it does not apply to carcases of sheep or goats slaughtered before 1st January 1998.
A Regulatory Appraisal for these Regulations has been prepared and placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Meat Hygiene Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.


(1)
1990 c. 16; “the Ministers” is defined in section 4(1) of the Act. Section 6(4) was amended by section 31 of, and paragraph 6 of Schedule 9 to, the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 (c. 40) and section 6(6) was added by section 76 of, and paragraph 16 of Schedule 16 to, that Act.

(2)
S.I. 1997/2965.

(3)
S.I. 1997/2964.