Decree on Food Hygiene of Foodstuffs of Animal Origin

NB: Unofficial translation © Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland Decree on Food Hygiene of Foodstuffs of Animal Origin (1336/1996, amendments up to 535/2002 included) Section 1 Scope of application of the Act on Food Hygiene of Foodstuffs of Animal Origin (1) The Act on Food Hygiene of Foodstuffs of Animal Origin (1195/1996) (Hygiene Act) applies to: 1) meat of bovines and solipeds, pigs, sheep, goats, poultry, reindeer, rabbits, wild and farmed game animals as well as reptiles and products derived from the meat of the said animals; in the case of reindeer which must be killed by shooting the provisions concerning wild game are applied; 2) fishery products, frogs, and snails, as well as products derived form these; 3) milk, including colostrum, and products derived from this; 4) eggs; 5) egg preparations manufactured from the eggs of hens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guineafowl and quails; and 6) control of contaminants in honey. Section 2 General restrictions on the scope of the Hygiene Act (1) The Hygiene Act does not apply to foodstuffs of animal origin derived from animals produced or caught by a producer, fisherman or hunter, if the foodstuffs are used in the private household of the said producer, fisherman or hunter or on a private occasion organised by hunters. (2) The Hygiene Act does not apply when a private person has a foodstuff of animal origin processed to be used in his or her private household. (3) Plants which have been approved under the Hygiene Act may not accept uninspected meat for processing. (683/1998) Section 3 Restrictions on the scope of the Hygiene Act concerning meat (1) The Hygiene Act does not apply to: 1) poultry meat purchased by a consumer for his or her own use directly from a production farm which produces no more than 10,000 birds a year; 2) reindeer meat or dried reindeer meat which a consumer purchases for his or her own use in a reindeer herding area directly from a production farm or place of slaughter; 3) meat of farmed birds or rabbits which a consumer purchases for his or her own use directly from a production farm; 4) meat of wild game which a consumer purchases for his or her own use directly from a hunter or the police or in a sale organised by a game management association as commissioned by the police; 5) meat of hunted wild lagomorphs and birds delivered to retail stores or mass caterers (800/2001); 6) meat of reindeer, poultry, rabbits, farmed birds, or wild game which the defence forces purchase or a member of the forces catches for their own use for survival training in rescue drills. (800/2001) (2) The derogations mentioned in subsection 1 above do not concern meat delivered to a consumer from a slaughterhouse or place of slaughter referred to in section 12 or products to be manufactured from meat referred to in subsection 1. (683/1998) Section 4 Restrictions on the scope of the Hygiene Act concerning fishery products, snails and frogs (1) The Hygiene Act does not apply to: 1) fishery products or products derived from these which a fisherman or fish farmer delivers directly to a consumer, retail store or mass caterer, if the total amount of the fishery products and products derived from these does not exceed 10,000 kilos a year and at least two-thirds of the fishery products are caught or farmed by the fisherman or fish farmer; 2) handling of processed products derived from fishery products, frogs or snails if these are used as raw material of another foodstuff; 3) handling of fishery products or products derived from these in fishing or freezing vessels or floating processing units sailing under the flag of a country which is not a member of the European Community. Provisions on the import and transit of fishery products and products derived from these coming from these vessels and processing units are laid down in the Act on Veterinary Border Inspection (1192/1996). (683/1998) Section 5 Restrictions on the scope of the Hygiene Act concerning milk and eggs (1) The Hygiene Act does not apply to: 1) handling of milk and products derived from this when these are used as raw material of another foodstuff; 2) handling of eggs when these are used as raw material of foodstuffs other than egg preparations; and 3) handling of an egg preparation when this is used as raw material of another foodstuffs. Section 6 Definitions (1) In this Act: 1) poultry means domestic chickens, turkeys, guineafowl, ducks and geese; 2) farmed game means farmed land mammals and birds of the wild species; 3) farmed large birds means farmed birds of large bird species such as ostrich and emu; 4) wild game means wild land mammals and birds which are hunted; 5) product derived from meat (meat products) means a product intended to the used as food manufactured wholly or partly from meat; the competent ministry specifies in more detail which products are meat products; 6) fishery product means all sea and freshwater animals caught or farmed to be used as food as well as their roe and other parts except for water mammals and frogs; 7) snails mean gastropods of the species Helix pomotia Linné, Helix aspersa Muller and Helix lucorum as well as family Achatinidae; 8) frogs means frogs of the species Rana spp. (family Ranidae); 9) product derived from a fishery product, frog or snail (raw preparations and processed products) means a product intended to be used as food manufactured wholly or partly from these foodstuffs; the competent ministry specifies in more detail which products belong to these products; 10) processed product derived from a fishery product, frogs or snails means a processed product manufactured by treating a fishery product, frogs or snails chemically or physically for example by heating, smoking, salting, drying, marinating or in another similar manner; a processed product may contain foodstuffs other than fishery products, frogs or snails; 11) fisherman or fish farmer means an individual who engages in fishing or fish farming or the household in which the said individual belongs (683/1998); 12) product derived from milk (milk-based product) means a product intended to be used as food manufactured wholly or partly from milk; the competent ministry specifies in more detail which products are milk-based products; 13) colostrum means milk which an animal secretes for four days after giving birth (683/1998); 14) egg means birds’ eggs with a shell which are intended to be used as food; 15) first destination means a plant approved under the Hygiene Act or foodstuff facility referred to in the Act on Health Protection (763/1994) which in Finland first receives a consignment of foodstuffs of animal origin coming from another Member State; 16) production farm means a unit practising primary production of foodstuffs of animal origin; 17) meat producer means an owner or possessor of a slaughter animal from whose production farm an animal is brought in for slaughter; 18) egg preparation means a product intended to be used as food manufactured wholly or partly from birds’ eggs to be further specified by the competent ministry. (683/1998) Section 7 Control of contaminants by the State (1) The National Veterinary and Food Research Institute and National Food Agency are responsible for the implementation of the national control programme for contaminants in foodstuffs of animal origin. The National Veterinary and Food Research Institute and National Food Agency may use the assistance of the State Provincial Offices and municipal control authorities in carrying out this task. (102/2001) Section 8 Meat inspection and control by the State (1) The National Food Agency is responsible for the control and inspections in a slaughterhouse and control in plants adjacent to a slaughterhouse. (102/2001) Section 9 Organisation of the inspection and control of reindeer meat (1) A State Provincial Office approves a slaughterhouse and place of slaughter for reindeer as well as organises the control and inspections in these. (2) A municipal control authority approves a plant which operates adjacent to a slaughterhouse and place of slaughter for reindeer as well as organises its control. (3) A State Provincial Office must notify a plant it has approved to the National Food Agency to be entered to the national register of plants. (102/2001) Section 10 Charges collected on the inspection of reindeer meat (1) Charge on meat inspection and related control carried out in a slaughterhouse and place of slaughter for reindeer is collected from the operator who requested the inspection. The amount of the charge is determined based on the provisions laid down in the Act on the Charge Criteria of the State. Section 11 Meat inspection of wild game intended for domestic consumption (1) With the permission of a veterinarian holding an office in the municipality or municipal federation, wild game intended for domestic consumption may be slaughtered and the meat may be inspected in a place other than a slaughterhouse or place of slaughter. The permission is subject to the condition that appropriate hygiene can be followed at slaughtering. Meat inspection in such a place is carried out by the veterinarian mentioned above. (683/1998) Section 12 Maximum number of slaughtered animals in a place of slaughter (1) A place of slaughter is a plant where the number of animals slaughtered does not exceed the numbers set out in this section. (2) No more than 20 livestock units a week and 1,000 livestock units a year may be slaughtered in a place of slaughter for bovines and solipeds as well as pigs, sheep and goats. Solipeds and full grown bovines correspond to 1.0 units and other bovines to 0.5 units. Pigs of a live weight greater than 100 kilos correspond to 0.20 units and other pigs to 0.15 units. Sheep and goats correspond to 0.10 units. Lambs, kids and piglets weighing less than 15 kilos correspond to 0.05 units. (3) In a place of slaughter for poultry no more than 150,000 birds belonging to the poultry species may be slaughtered per year. (4) In a place of slaughter for reindeer, no more than 4,000 reindeer may be slaughtered per slaughtering season. (5) For the maximum numbers of animals slaughtered in a place of slaughter for farmed game and rabbits, the maximum numbers for the slaughtering of animals of a similar weight or corresponding species at the places of slaughter for other animals shall apply. The maximum numbers of large birds slaughtered are the same as those set for the slaughtering of sheep. (6) Plants where the number of animals slaughtered exceeds the numbers mentioned in this section are slaughterhouses. Section 13 Obligation concerning notification and keeping of records in a plant (1) A plant must keep records of animals and foodstuffs of animal origin entering and leaving the plant. The records must show where the slaughter animal or foodstuff of animal origin came from as well as the destination of a foodstuff of animal origin leaving the plant. (2) A plant must keep records on the own-checks and their results. (3) A slaughterhouse and place of slaughter must at its own cost keep records of the animals slaughtered in the plant and information on the prevalence of illnesses in them as well as the results of meat inspection. A slaughterhouse and place of slaughter must at its own cost notify the information on the slaughtered animals collected in connection with the meat inspection to the producer of the meat. (4) The competent ministry issues further provisions on the notification and keeping of records referred to in this section. Section 14 Obligation concerning notification and keeping of records at a first destination (1) A first destination must notify the competent State veterinary officer carrying out meat inspections or municipal control authority before starting to receive foodstuffs of animal origin coming from another Member State. (2) First destinations must keep records of consignments containing foodstuffs of animal origin coming from another Member State and the own-checks concerning these. The received consignments must be notified to the competent State veterinary officer carrying out meat inspections or the municipal control authority. (3) A first destination must notify any significant shortcomings related to food hygiene detected in own-checks to the State official responsible for its control or municipal control authority without delay. (683/1998) (4) The competent ministry issues further provisions on the notification and keeping of records referred to in this section. Section 15 Obligation concerning notification and keeping of records on a production farm (1) When delivering live animals to a slaughterhouse, place of slaughter or another plant, a production farm must notify the plant in writing of: 1) illnesses of the animals and other factors which may have negative impacts on the quality of foodstuffs derived from the animals; 2) for the part of medicated animals information on the medication of animals set out in section 18 of the Act on Medicating Animals (617/1997) and reasons related to animal protection which led to the slaughter; 3) any contaminants detected in another animal of the same farm in connection with meat inspection or other examination in the past three years. (2) When sending milk, eggs or honey to a plant, the production farm must also give the information on the medication of animals as set out in section 18 of the Act on Medicating Animals as well as results of examination referred to in section 14 of the said Act. (3) A plant must forward the information referred to in subsection 1 above to the control authority. If a live animal is inspected in a place other than a slaughterhouse or place of slaughter, the production farm must notify this to the veterinarian carrying out the meat inspection. (683/1998) (4) A production farm must notify the municipal control authority of the start of automatic milking at least 3 months before starting and keep records of the use of automatic milking. A production farms must also notify the municipal control authority of packing of milk and manufacture of milk-based products for sale directly from the production farms to the final consumer as well as supply of colostrum outside the production farm other than delivery to a plant. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry issues further provisions on the notification and keeping of records. (535/2002) Section 16 Obligation concerning notification and keeping of records in poultry units (1) A poultry unit must keep records of birds intended for slaughter. (2) The competent ministry issues further provisions on the keeping of records concerning the origin and raising of birds. Section 17 Transitional periods concerning the structures of plants (1) Plants handling fishery products, milk, or products derived from these to which the municipal control authority has granted upon application by the plant a derogation concerning the technical requirements for plants based on an application must be made to comply with the requirements set out in the Hygiene Act by the end of 1997. (2) In addition, the following plants handling meat and meat products must be rendered compatible with the requirements set out in the Hygiene Act by the end of 1997: 1) slaughterhouses which slaughter bovines and solipeds, pigs, sheep and goats as well as their cutting plants handling the meat and coldstores; 2) plants manufacturing meat products other than minced meat and raw meat preparations; and 3) slaughterhouses for reindeer and other places approved for slaughtering reindeer. (3) In individual cases the National Veterinary and Food Research Institute and State Provincial Office may based on an application grant further time of no more than one year for rendering the plant compatible with the Hygiene Act, if the work for this purpose has been started before the end of 1997. Similarly, the municipal control authority may grant further time to a plant it has approved after receiving a written permission from the State Provincial Office. Section 17 a Transitional period concerning the slaughtering and inspection of reindeer (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 17, in the Province of Oulu reindeer intended for domestic consumption may be slaughtered and their meat may be inspected in places other than slaughterhouses and places of slaughter for reindeer until 1 June 2000. (683/1998) Section 18 Restrictions concerning the transitional period (1) Plants which do not meet the requirements of the Hygiene Act within the transitional period referred to in section 17 may not deliver meat, meat products, milk, or milk products to other states within the European Economic Area during the transitional period. Section 19 Entry into force (1) This Decree enters into force on 1 January 1997. (2) Measures necessary for the implementation of this Decree may be undertaken before the Decree’s entry into force. (3) This Decree repeals the following Decrees, Decrees mentioned in points 1, 2, 5 and 6 as amended: 1) Decree on the Implementation of the Fish Hygiene Act of 10 June 1994 (481/1994); 2) Decree on Fish Hygiene issued on the same date (482/1994); 3) Decree on the Implementation of the Meat Hygiene Act of 28 June 1994 (512/1994); 4) Decree on the Inspection of Poultry Meat issued on the same date (513/1994); 5) Decree on the Inspection of Reindeer Meat issued on the same date (514/1994); 6) Decree on the Inspection of Game and Rabbit Meat issued on the same date (515/1994); and 7) Decree on the Implementation of the Milk Hygiene Act of 15 June 1994 (672/1994). Helsinki, 30 December 1996