To the regions and autonomous province of Trento - Departments of health '- veterinary services At the autonomous province of Bolzano - Department of Agriculture - veterinary service of Bolzano At the veterinary offices to community requirements of the Ministry of Health' At the border posts of the Ministry of health 'higher Institute of Health' At the carabinieri Command for health 'At the experimental veterinary epidemiology At the University' of studies - Faculty 'of veterinary medicine - animal food inspection Institutes All'Assica All'Assocarni All'Uniceb Al Cim - Via Aureliana, 25 the Union national poultry at M & V the Association generally Italian cooperatives at Confcommercio at Federcarni at Fiaal Cna at food Federation confartigianato All'Aiipa Italian cold All'Unione at Federalimentare All'Unionalimentari at Co.Na .Zo SCL At Fiesa - Confesercenti At Parma ham Consortium Al prosciutto San Daniele Consortium At Sivemp With the enactment of the decree of the President of the Republic August 3, 1998, n. 309, which repealed the decree of the President of the Republic March 1, 1992, n. 227, is to be ridisciplinata the production and placing on the market of minced meat and meat preparations with the introduction of important innovations. It seems useful, therefore, to provide more clarification of this complex matter governed by the aforementioned decree. 1) Scope. The decree of the President of the Republic August 3, 1998, n. 309, sets out the conditions for the production and placing on the market of minced meat and meat preparations. E 'should be remembered that the production and marketing of meat weighing less than 100 grams, originally normed by the decree of the President of the Republic n. 227/1992, which falls instead activity 'cutting within the scope of the legislative decree 18 April 1994 n. 286, as already 'made it clear with note no. 600.7 / 24475 / AG39 / 2305 of 9 August 1994. Under Article. 1, paragraph 2 of the Decree of the President of the Republic August 3, 1998, n. 309, is excluded from the scope of the production of minced meat and meat preparations, for the purposes of direct sales to the "final consumer", carried out at the same exercise for retail sale, in the laboratory adjacent to it or functionally related. In fact, unlike the other regulated sectors, in the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 relates only to the final consumer, so the restaurants, canteens, hospitals and other community ', which as you know are considered "consumer" as defined by Legislative Decree n. 109/1992, will source the minced meat and meat preparations solely from establishments approved under the decree in question. Do not fall into the exclusion from the scope of the decree centralized laboratories of distribution chains for retail sale. Also it falls outside the scope of the production and marketing of mechanically separated meat market, pursuant to Legislative Decree n. 286/1994 and decrees of the President of Republic number 559/1992 and 495/1997 and subsequent amendments concerning respectively the production and marketing of fresh meat, rabbit meat and farmed game meat and poultry; the meat can be used exclusively for processing into meat products heat treated and therefore can not be used as feedstock for the production of minced meat and meat preparations. It does not fall altresi 'the scope of the production and the placing on the market of fresh meat trimmings of the attivita' cutting under Legislative Decree n. 286/1994, intended for establishments approved in accordance with Legislative Decree n. 537/1992 to be used as raw material for the sausage meat, which constitutes the dough for the production of sausage meat-based products. The term "trimmings" means the remaining parts of fresh meat resulting from trimming or preparation of the various cuts that make the product presentable for sale or further processing (salting, curing, etc.). It seems appropriate to specify that when the processing laboratories of meat products are obtained trimmings of fresh meat, may 'be allowed their direct destination to another processing plant for further processing. In this case, given the impossibility 'to label such meat with the health mark referred to in Legislative Decree n. 537/1992 will have to appear: a) label to be affixed on the packaging the following information: "Meat intended for processing"; "Meat EEC", if it is meat originally equipped with EEC stamp, or "not EEC" Meats, if it is meat with limitation of commercialization national scope, in order to permit the proper marking of the meat product finished respectively with the EEC stamp or the letters "Italian market"; b) on the accompanying commercial document during transport: the approval number of establishment of the consignor; the indication "Meat intended for processing." It must be emphasized that the trimmings of fresh meat, as defined above, can not be used for the production of minced meat and preparations which provide for the use of minced meat. 2) Minced meat. In the absence of provisions in art. 4, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998, minced meat to be marketed as such, with the possible addition of a maximum of 1% of salt, can be manufactured exclusively from meat of bovine animals, swine, sheep and goats, in accordance with the provisions art. 3. Minced meat from other species, with the exception of those equine, can instead be produced in an establishment approved in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998, only for the purpose of further processing of meat preparations. For the production of minced meat and frozen 'also allowed the use of raw material frozen or frozen that, pursuant to art. 3, paragraph 3, letter a) of the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998, must necessarily come from a cold store approved in accordance with Legislative Decree n. 286/1994; in this respect it should be noted that according to Art. 3, paragraph 3, of the legislative decree the activity 'meat storage can' be carried out, as well as in stand-alone cold stores, even in the cold rooms of slaughterhouses and cutting plants approved eligible pursuant to art. 13 and in the cold stores of the processing of meat products laboratories. 3) Preparations of meat. Among the innovations introduced by the decree of the President of the Republic August 3, 1998, n. 309, and 'it was envisaged the possibility' of using rabbit meat and farmed game and killed on the hunt for the production of meat preparations not covered earlier by decree of the President of the Republic n. 227/1992. In addition to the decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 establishes a distinction between the preparations of minced meat (cs. Hamburgers, meatballs, etc.) And other meat preparations (kebabs, rolled, rolls etc.). In fact, preparations obtained from minced meat of bovine animals, swine, sheep and goats must comply with the same conditions of production laid down in Article. 3 for minced meat, with the exception of fresh sausages, which despite being made with minced meat, are expressly governed by art. 5, paragraph 4; to all other meat preparations apply, however, the specific provisions of Article. 5. With the decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998, the fresh sausages are then to It is excluded from the scope of Legislative Decree No. 537/1992, which governs the production of meat products. In this regard, taking into account that on the national territory, with the term "sausage" refers to delicatessen products different from the point of view of the technological features of production, it is therefore necessary to clarify the following. Fresh sausage is a preparation if the sausage is made with minced meat to which have been added and any seasonings permitted additives; must not have undergone any treatment except cold storage, keeping the center the characteristics of fresh meat and must be maintained at a temperature not higher than 2 C. If instead the sausage has undergone a conservation treatment, different from the refrigeration, as the addition of additives with preservative action, such as nitrates and nitrites (whose use and 'allowed in meat products and not in meat products), associated to a drying treatment, such as to allow in any case to reach values ​​of Aw (water activity) of less than 0.97, can not 'be considered "fresh" and therefore remains subject to the provisions of legislative decree n. 537/1992. The indications above also apply to other uncooked meat products such as, pig's trotters, sausages, etc. 4) Self-control. With the decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 imposes the requirement for the owners of establishments producing minced meat and meat preparations, the preparation and implementation of self-control procedures in accordance with the provisions laid down in Article. 7. The mode 'of self-control, approved in advance by the official veterinarian, must include among others the execution of microbiological analysis on the finished product as defined in paragraphs 4 and 5. In this regard, in relation to the obligation established in paragraph 5, letter a), to proceed to the cauterization of the sample surface it is stated that this' must be considered necessary only in the case of meat preparations consisting of significant muscle portions. The frequency of sampling must be daily for minced meat of animals for slaughter belonging to the bovine, porcine, ovine and caprine animals and for preparations obtained from minced meat, and these, in contrast to what was previously provided by the decree of the President of the Republic n. 227/1992, it is not 'more' can predict for certain parameters, after repeated favorable results, a weekly analysis frequency. The results of these analyzes must be assessed according to the criteria in Annex II; In this regard it is noted that in the Official Gazette - second special series - n. 69 of 3 September 1998, and an adjustment of Directive 94/65 / EC 'was published which also corrects the M value for Staphylococcus aureus shown in the table in Annex II, Part Two, which should be replaced by "5 times10 ( high a) 3j ". For other preparations of meat including fresh sausages and preparations of minced meat of other species, microbiological controls must instead be weekly and you should refer to Annex IV with regard to the results of the evaluation criteria. For weekly it is necessary to refer to a period of six days of actual production if the establishment does not carry on an activity 'daily production. 5) Veterinary checks. The veterinary checks required by art. 9 of the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 consist, for the most part, in verification of corporate self-monitoring results carried out in accordance with art. 7. These inspections shall include the verification of compliance of minced meat and meat preparations the composition criteria and the microbiological criteria laid down in Annexes II and IV and the application of any follow up measure to prevent the marketing of dangerous products or harmful, or in poor condition. Veterinary checks may be accompanied by the execution of analyzes performed by official laboratories for which and 'necessary attention to the best execution rules set by art. 7, paragraph 5 of the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998. In respect of the interpretation of the results of analyzes carried out within the company is self-control, and of those carried out for the official control is necessary to refer to the criteria defined in Annexes II and IV. It 'important to note that the identification of "criteria" and no more 'than "rules" as provided for the decree of the President of the Republic n. 227/1992 permit the application of an official control system that invests more professionalism 'of the official veterinarian, not triggering more' automatism caused by the overcoming of the "norm" and, as a direct consequence, the start of the news reporting procedure of the 'court for breach offense art. 5 of the law 30 April 1962, n. 283. Article. 9 of the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 provides for, within the competence of the official veterinarian, taking steps to Administrative scalable according to the gravity 'of the ascertained situation, including the proposal to the Ministry of Health' of suspension or withdrawal of recognition of suitability 'for breach of hygiene regulations. In this regard, therefore, the official veterinarian must 'assess the need' to commence the legal proceedings, if so is the case. The manager of production must however implement corrective actions, if necessary, may include the withdrawal of the product from the market. 6) Packaging. There is an obligation to proceed to the packaging at the end of the production process both for minced meat and for meat preparations, including fresh sausages. Each package is a unit 'Shipping and as such should have a single recipient without possibility' of splitting being distributed, not being provided the rewrapping centers for meat preparations and minced meat. It is without prejudice to the possibility 'of the operator retail sale of open packages and sell the content sharing to the final consumer. 7) Health marking. The health mark on the label of the packaging and packaging of minced meat and meat preparations must contain the approval number of the production establishment. This number will be 'different depending on whether the production plant is attached to the cutting plant red meat (Legislative Decree no. 286/1994), in the slaughterhouse or cutting plant of poultry meat (Decree of the President of the Republic n. 495/1997), rabbit and farmed game (decree of the President of the Republic n. 559/1992), in the center or laboratory processing of hunting game killed sectioning (decree of the President of the Republic n. 607/1996), a processing lab meat products (legislative decree n. 537/1992) or constitutes a unit 'independent production (decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998). In this regard, therefore, subject to the approval numbers already 'assigned pursuant to the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 227/1992, the approval number potra 'be constituted as follows: a) figures / P in the case of a laboratory adjoining cutting plant red meat, the big game is bred to hunt and kill her in case of united 'independent production; b) 0 digits / P in the case of attached to the slaughterhouse or cutting plant laboratory of poultry or rabbit cutting plant, game Small is raised that killed hunting; c) the figures / LP in the case of annexes establishments in laboratories of processing of meat products; in this case the letter "P" should always be associated with the letter "L"; d) 9-digit / P in the case of establishments already 'recognized as suitable for the machining of non-industrial meat products that have obtained validation for the exclusive production of fresh sausage; e) 9-digit / LP in the case of establishments already 'recognized as suitable for the machining of non-industrial character of delicatessen products that have obtained the validation for the production of fresh sausage maintaining the recognition also for meat products. Whereas the characteristics of the health mark shall be similar for different rules governing the production of meat used as a raw material for minced meat and meat preparations, the form of the health mark must 'be the oval organized by those rules with the exception of preparations meat of hunting killed wild game for which must 'be in every other case pentagonal. 8) Transport. Pursuant to the decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998, minced meat and meat preparations during transport must be accompanied by a document Commercial released in the dispatching establishment and showing information about the veterinary approval number assigned to it. For the minced meat has provided additional information to be placed on the commercial document as required by certain EU Member States or the health certificate in Annex III, in the case of allocation to a Member State after transit through a third country. However, with respect to meat preparations sent to another EU Member State, Article. 5 expected to be always accompanied by a health certificate in accordance with Annex V. The transport of minced meat and meat preparations must take place by means of transport that ensure the maintenance of temperatures provided for in the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998. Under the provisions of Annex I, Chapter IX, the means of transport must be equipped with a thermometer with the temperature recording system. 9) Recognition procedure. The decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 modified the procedure for the approval of establishments producing minced meat and meat preparations by providing, among other things, in line with the provisions governing the production of fresh meat of different species of animals and meat products , the introduction of the provisional approval. It also provides for the registration of establishments in different lists depending on whether the laboratories attached to cutting plants red meat in slaughterhouses or cutting of poultry meat processing, rabbit cutting plants and game, in laboratories processing of products based on meat or joined 'of autonomous production. In this regard, therefore, and 'necessary that in the application for recognition is clearly specified the type of the plant and if it comes to the production of minced meat and / or meat preparations. As for the documentation to be attached to the application, be prepared according to the model shown in Annex 1, and the procedure for his presentation please refer to the gia 'indicated in the circular 8 August 1994, n. 19, on the recognition of suitability 'establishments pursuant to Legislative Decree 18 April 1994, n. 286. While awaiting the issue of the ministerial order, pursuant to art. 5, paragraph 12 of Law 29 December 1990 n. 407, will determine 'rates to cover expenses associated with the recognition procedure, the expected payment by art. 8, paragraph 7 of the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 potra 'be made after the submission of the application. It is understood that the application for recognition must 'be accompanied by the declaration by which the plant manager undertakes to make such a payment within sixty days from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the ministerial decree on the fares. Establishments already 'recognized as suitable according to the decree of the President of the Republic March 1, 1992, n. 227, retain their recognition and can continue their activities 'without prejudice to the need' to comply with the provisions introduced by the decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998. For annexes laboratories of production to a meat cutting plant fresh poultry already 'recognized under the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 227/1992 and 'can make appropriate legal paper application for the replacement of the approval number of which are in the possession with that provided for in paragraph 7, letter b). The recognition lodged under the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 227/1992 before the entry into force of Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 for which has not yet completed the investigation retain their validity '; about potra 'be required the provisional recognition of suitability' in order to begin the attivita 'of production. The owners of establishments gia 'operating pursuant to Law n. 283/1962 on the entry into force of Decree of the President of the Republic n. 227/1992 that, having submitted the application for recognition within the deadline, June 30, 1992, still continue their activities 'pending completion of the investigation, must confirm to the most' soon as possible but no later than six months from the date of enactment of this circular interest to achieve the recognition of suitability '; to this end, in Given the time elapsed since the submission of the application, must be attached to the letter confirming the favorable opinion issued recently given by the veterinary service USL company about the existence of the requirements prescribed under the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998. For these complex, it will 'be submitted request for provisional approval. If within that time the written confirmation is not received the request will be 'permanently closed and the plant must' suspend such activities'. 10) validation procedure of awards issued pursuant to Legislative Decree 30 December 1992, n. 537. Article. 15, paragraph 3, of the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 allows establishments already 'recognized, even with provisional approval, pursuant to Legislative Decree n. 537/1992 for the production of fresh sausage to continue its activities' in compliance with the provisions of art. 5 of the aforementioned decree of the President of the Republic purche 'within six months from the date of entry into force seeks the validation of that recognition did anyway prejudice to the obligation to apply immediately the modalities' checks provided art. 7. The validation of these awards can 'be done according to the procedures' described below. A) Establishments having structure and capacity 'of industrial production. Establishments that have the structure and capacity 'of industrial production already' recognized as suitable for the machining of meat products, which include in their activities' production of fresh sausage, must submit by the deadline of 11 March 1999 extension request under the decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 of their recognition for the production of fresh sausage; the letter "P" in this case the plant maintains the approval number "L" already 'assigned to which you will add'. Establishments in which activities' production remains solely the production of fresh sausage will instead request within the same period the conversion of recognition "L" in "P" in this case will not be 'possible to maintain the approval number already' assigned as the 'facility must' be considered together 'independent and consequently placed at a separate list production. These establishments, if they intend to include in their activities' also production of other meat preparations, should follow the normal approval procedure under the decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 referred to in item 9). B) Establishments that do not have the structure and capacity 'of industrial production. Notwithstanding the structural requirements referred to in Annex I Chapter III of the decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998, establishments not having structure and capacity 'of industrial production already' recognized as suitable for the production of meat products, which include in their activities' the production of fresh sausage, can request within the period of 11 March 1999, the extension or conversion of their recognition for the production of fresh sausage, while observing the overall production limit of 7.5 tons of finished product also inclusive of meat products. The fresh sausage production must take place in accordance with control of the temperature of the meat, as provided for in Chapter IV, point a); to this end, even in non-industrial establishments there is an obligation of condizionanento temperature of the manufacturing room. These establishments may not submit a request for recognition under the Decree of the President of the Republic n. 309/1998 for the production of other meat preparations because they lack the necessary structural requirements. Both in the case of industrial plants that applications for extension or conversion of the recognition of suitability 'non-industrial should be formulated according to the model given in Annex 2 and submitted to the Ministry of Health' through the region or autonomous province. Such applications should be accompanied by a current value stamp and the favorable opinion of the veterinary service about the permanence of the structural requirements provided for by law no. 537/1992 respectively for establishments that have the structure and capacity 'industrial and for establishments that do not have the structure and capacity' industrial. The veterinary advice must 'also certify that the igienicosanitari and functional requirements of the Decree of the President the Republic n. 309/1998. 11) Imports. The decree of the President of the Republic on the subject ridisciplina imports from third countries of minced meat and meat preparations surpassing the previous provisions and bilateral agreements inconsistent with them. Under Article. 13 the importation of minced meat and meat preparations can 'take place only if: a) have been deep-frozen at the source production laboratory. Minced meat and meat preparations must therefore have been submitted, in the production plant, at a temperature at or below ù-18 C as required by art. 2, paragraph 1, letter a) of Legislative Decree 27 January 1992 n. 110. It should also be clarified that the requirements on packaging and labeling of frozen foods according to the legislative decree quoted exclusively to minced meat and meat preparations intended for placing on the market within the Community as such and not those intended to further processing prior to marketing; b) come from a third country or part thereof included in a specific Community list from which imports are not prohibited for reasons of animal health of the fresh meat from which they are made. This requirement means that, for example, the preparations of poultry meat can come only from third countries contained in the list set out in the Commission Decision. 94/85 / EC establishing the list of third countries from which the Member States authorize imports of fresh poultry meat (in the Official Gazette no. L 44 of 17 February 1994) and its subsequent amendments; c) they are accompanied by a health certificate corresponding to one of the models annexed to the Commission Decision n. 97/29 / EC of 17 December 1996 (OJ no. L 12 of 15 January 1997); d) they come, so long as no EU lists will be established, by a laboratory approved by the writer Ministry; e) they have been subjected with favorable outcome to the controls provided for by Legislative Decree 3 March 1993, n. 93. Minister: Bindi