CHAPTER III: INVOLVEMENT OF SLAUGHTERHOUSE STAFF

The Member States may permit slaughterhouse staff to take over the activities of the official auxiliaries in controlling the production of poultry and rabbit meat under the following conditions: Where the establishment has used good hygiene practice in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 4 of this Regulation and the HACCP procedure for at least twelve months, the competent authority may authorise staff of the establishment who have been trained in the same way as the official assistants and have passed the same examination to carry out tasks of the official auxiliaries and form part of the competent authority's independent inspection team, under the supervision, direction and responsibility of the official veterinarian. In these circumstances, the official veterinarian shall be present at anti-mortem and post-mortem examinations, shall supervise these activities and carry out regular performance tests to ensure that the performance of the slaughterhouse tasks meets the specific criteria laid down by the competent authority, and shall document the results of those performance tests. Detailed rules for the performance tests shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 18. Where the level of hygiene of the establishment is affected by the work of this staff, where this staff does not carry out the tasks properly or where in general this staff carries out its work in a manner that the competent authority considers unsatisfactory, this staff shall be replaced by official auxiliaries. Responsibilities for production and inspection in the establishment must be kept separate and any establishment wishing to use the establishment's own inspectors must possess internationally recognised certification. The competent authority of the Member State shall decide, in principle and on a case-by-case basis, whether to permit the implementation of the system described above. Where the Member State decides in principle in favour of this system, it shall inform the Commission of that decision and its associated conditions. For food business operators in a Member State implementing the system, the actual use of the system is optional. Food business operators shall not be forced by the competent authority to introduce the system described here. Where the competent authority is not convinced that the food business operator satisfies the requirements, the system shall not be implemented in that establishment. In order to assess this, the competent authority shall carry out an analysis of the production and inspection records, the type of activities undertaken in the establishment, the history of compliance with rules, the expertise, professional attitude and sense of responsibility of the slaughterhouse staff in regard to food safety, together with other relevant information. Slaughterhouse staff who have received specific training, under the supervision of the official veterinarian, may, under the responsibility and the supervision of the official veterinarian, carry out specific sampling and testing tasks in respect of animals of all species.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.