CHAPTER IV: DOMESTIC SWINE

The competent authority may decide that pigs intended for slaughter are to be submitted to ante-mortem inspection at the holding of provenance. In that case, slaughter of a lot of pigs from a holding may be authorised only if: the health certificate provided for in Chapter X, Part A, accompanies them; and the requirements of paragraphs 2 to 5 are complied with. Ante-mortem inspection at the holding of provenance is to comprise: checks on records or documentation at the holding, including food chain information; the examination of the pigs to determine whether: they have a disease or condition which may be transmitted to animals or humans through handling or eating the meat, or are behaving, individually or collectively, in a manner indicating that such a disease may occur, they show disturbance of general behaviour or signs of disease which may make the meat unfit for human consumption, or there is evidence or reasons to suspect that they may contain chemical residues in excess of the levels laid down in Community legislation, or residues of forbidden substances. An official veterinarian or an approved veterinarian is to carry out ante-mortem inspection at the holding. The pigs are to be sent directly to slaughter and not to be mixed with other pigs. Ante-mortem inspection at the slaughterhouse need cover only: a control of the animals' identification; and a screening to ascertain whether animal welfare rules have been complied with and whether signs of any condition which might adversely affect human or animal health are present. An official auxiliary may carry out this screening. When pigs are not slaughtered within three days of the issue of the health certificate provided for in paragraph 1(a): if the pigs have not left the holding of provenance for the slaughterhouse, they are to be re-examined and a new health certificate issued; if the pigs are already en route for or at the slaughterhouse, slaughter may be authorised once the reason for the delay has been assessed, provided that the pigs undergo a further veterinary ante-mortem inspection. Carcases and offal of pigs other than those referred to in paragraph 2 are to undergo the following post-mortem inspection procedures: visual inspection of the head and throat; incision and examination of the submaxillary lymph nodes ( Lnn mandibulares); visual inspection of the mouth, fauces and tongue; visual inspection of the lungs, trachea and oesophagus; palpation of the lungs and the bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes (Lnn. bifucationes, eparteriales and mediastinales). The trachea and the main branches of the bronchi must be opened lengthwise and the lungs must be incised in their posterior third, perpendicular to their main axes; these incisions are not necessary where the lungs are excluded from human consumption; visual inspection of the pericardium and heart, the latter being incised lengthwise so as to open the ventricles and cut through the interventricular septum; visual inspection of the diaphragm; visual inspection of the liver and the hepatic and pancreatic lymph nodes, (Lnn portales); palpation of the liver and its lymph nodes; visual inspection of the gastrointestinal tract, the mesentery, the gastric and mesenteric lymph nodes ( Lnn. gastrici, mesenterici, craniales and caudales); palpation and, if necessary, incision of the gastric and mesenteric lymph nodes; visual inspection and, if necessary, palpation of the spleen; visual inspection of the kidneys; incision, if necessary, of the kidneys and the renal lymph nodes (Lnn. renales); visual inspection of the pleura and peritoneum; visual inspection of the genital organs (except for the penis, if already discarded); visual inspection of the udder and its lymph nodes (Lnn. supramammarii); incision of the supramammary lymph nodes in sows; visual inspection and palpation of the umbilical region and joints of young animals; in the event of doubt, the umbilical region must be incised and the joints opened. The competent authority may decide, on the basis of epidemiological or other data from the holding, that fattening pigs housed under controlled housing conditions in integrated production systems since weaning need, in some or all of the cases referred to in paragraph 1, only undergo visual inspection.

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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.