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Animal by-products: Questions and answers

General questions on animal by-products


Q1. What legislation controls animal by-products?

Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 lays down strict animal and public health rules for the collection, transport, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of all animal by-products (ABPs). These rules have applied throughout EU member states since 1 May 2003. In England the rules are administered and enforced by the Animal By-Products Regulations (ABPR) 2005. Corresponding enforcement legislation applies in the Devolved Administrations.

Q2. What is the aim of the EU Regulation?

The European Commission considers the aim of the Regulation is to integrate the animal by-products sector into the 'farm to table' approach for food safety as set out in the EU White Paper on Food Safety adopted in January 2000. The Regulation introduces stringent conditions throughout the food and feed chains requiring safe collection, transport, storage, handling, processing, use and disposal of animal by-products. The Regulation prohibits the disposal of most ABPs by burial (including landfill). The only exceptions from the ban are for remote areas (in the UK these are parts of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, the Scilly Isles and Lundy Island) and during outbreaks of notifiable disease, if there is a lack of capacity at rendering plants and incinerators or if transport of the carcases would spread disease.

The Regulation stipulates sourcing and processing standards for Category 3 material in order to be eligible for use in animal feed, although there are separate BSE-related feed ban rules in EU TSE Regulation 999/2001 which prohibit most processed animal proteins from farmed animal feed.

Q3. When did the Regulation come into force?

The Regulation came into force throughout the EU on 1 May 2003. The Regulation has been enforceable in England since 1 July 2003.

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Q4. Who enforces the animal by-products legislation?

Local Authorities (usually trading standards) are responsible for enforcement of ABPs legislation in England, except in licensed slaughterhouses, cutting plants and cold stores, where the Meat Hygiene Service is responsible for enforcement. The Secretary of State, through the State Veterinary Service (SVS), also has the powers to enforce where necessary.

Q5. What are animal by-products?

ABPs are the parts of a slaughtered animal that are not directly consumed by humans, including animals which die on farm, waste from slaughterhouses and butchers shops, and catering waste (i.e. waste food originating from restaurants, catering facilities and kitchens) that contains or has been in contact with meat products, whether cooked or uncooked. Some of these products are used in animal proteins like meat-and-bone-meal, fats, gelatine, collagen, petfood and other technical products, such as glue, leathers, soaps, fertilisers etc. The alternative is their destruction, most often by incineration.

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Q6. How are animal by-products categorised?

The Regulation classifies animal by-products into three categories based on their potential risk to animals, the public or to the environment, and sets out how each category must or may be disposed of.

  • Category 1 material is very high risk material (animals suspected or confirmed as being infected by a TSE, animals killed in the context of TSE controls, Specified Risk Material, international catering waste). Category 1 ABPs must be disposed of by incineration or rendering (with the exception on international catering waste, which may be disposed of to an authorised landfill);

  • Category 2 material includes other high risk material (i.e. condemned meat, fallen stock, manure or animal by-products presenting a risk of contamination with other animal diseases (e.g. animals which die on farm or are killed in the context of disease control measures on farm or at risk of residues of veterinary drugs). Permissible disposal routes for Category 2 materials include incineration and rendering (processing). Unprocessed Category 2 material cannot go to landfill. However, some Category 2 ABPs may be recycled for uses other than feeds after appropriate treatment (e.g. biogas, composting, oleo-chemical products, etc);

  • Category 3 material is the lowest risk category, and includes raw meat that has passed meat inspection, waste from food manufacturers and food retailers, eggs and certain other by-products which do not show signs of transmissible disease. Category 3 material cannot be taken to landfill, but can be disposed of via a number of routes such as incineration, rendering, composting or anerobic digestion, or be used in an approved petfood or technical plant in some cases.

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Q7. Does the Regulation cover wild animals?

No. The carcasses, or parts of carcasses, of wild animals are exempt from the scope of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation unless they are thought to be diseased or are used to produce game trophies in which case there is a responsibility on the landowner to ensure the carcasses are disposed of in accordance with the regulation. Although the Regulation places them under no legal obligation, owners of property on which there are dead wild animals are advised to contact their local authority for advice on appropriate disposal methods.

However, in some parts of the country, (these are the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire), badger carcasses may be collected for examination for TB as part of a limited Road Traffic Accident (RTA) survey of badger carcasses. Road accident badger carcasses in Cornwall, Devon or Dorset should be reported to Defra on freephone 0800 389 7395 and those in Gloucester, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire reported on freephone 0800 389 7423.

  • NB: Whether or not an animal is a wild animal is a question of fact. In most cases it will be obvious (for example, wild birds that have never been owned or controlled are wild animals). However, where there is doubt, some of the considerations to take into account in deciding whether or not something is a wild animal are:

    • has the animal ever been fed by man?
    • has it ever been managed by man, or received veterinary attention from man?
    • has man ever established artificial boundaries that it cannot ordinarily pass?

However, even if some or all of these questions are answered in the affirmative, it is still possible that the animal is, or may have subsequently become a wild animal. This will be a question of fact in each case.

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Q8. Does the Regulation cover pet animals?

Yes, deceased pets are classed as Category 1 ABPs. However, the Government has applied a derogation to permit the burial of dead pet animals.

The definition of a pet animal given within the EU Animal By-Products Regulation is: any animal belonging to species normally nourished and kept, but not consumed, by humans for purposes other than farming. Therefore, the 'normal' farm species, such as sheep, cattle, pigs, goats and poultry etc. would fall out-with this definition and would require disposal by an approved route other than burial.

Q9. Can I still feed bones from the butcher to my dog?

The EU Regulation does not apply to raw petfood from retail shops or premises adjacent to sale points, where the cutting and storage are performed soley for the purpose of supplying the consumer directly on the spot. This means that butchers, supermarkets and other similar premises are authorised to supply meat may also supply bones, off-cuts etc. for feeding to pets.

Q10. Does the Regulation ban intra-species recycling (cannibalism)?

Yes, the Regulation bans feeding processed animal proteins back to the same species the product is derived from. Under the Regulation, for example, porcine processed animal protein cannot be fed to pigs and poultry processed animal protein cannot be fed to poultry. There are currently separate BSE-related feed ban requirements in the EU TSE Regulation 999/2001, however, prohibiting the use of most processed animal proteins in all farmed animal feed. The feed ban will be reviewed when diagnostic tests are available to allow species-specific identification of animal proteins in feed, so that a satisfactory means to monitor feed production to prevent intra-species recycling is available.

However, a derogation is provided for in the Regulation in the case of fish, where fishmeal derived from fish caught in the open sea (permitted under the TSE Regulation to be used for non-ruminant feed purposes) can be used as an aquaculture feed product, and be eligible to be fed to farmed fish species.

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Q11. Do premises handling animal by-products have to be approved?

The Regulation requires all premises where animal by-products are received, treated or disposed of to be officially approved or authorised. Approval would only be granted or maintained if the competent authority (Defra in England) is satisfied that the Regulation is complied with.

Q12. How frequent are inspections to these premises?

The Regulation does not specify how often inspections should be undertaken; it leaves it to Member States' discretion. This will continue to be based on a risk assessment. For example, at present in the UK rendering plants which handle specified risk material are visited weekly. For lower risk premises, such as petfood plants, inspections may take place only every three months.

Q13. What are the transportation controls?

ABPs must be collected and transported in leak-proof, covered vehicles and kept separate from other categories of by-product. Everyone transporting ABPs (other than manure) must complete a Commercial Document in full before ABPs are transported. The commercial document must include a record of the origin, quantity and description of the material, the date of transport, the carrier and the destination. The completed form must accompany the ABPs during transit and must be retained by the receiver. Copies of the commercial document must be retained by the consignor and the carrier. All documents must be retained for at least two years. For further details, please see Annex II of the EU Regulation.

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Q14. Does meat and bone meal have to be stained?

In the UK, we already require most Category 1 and 2 material to be stained, to prevent the illegal diversion of unfit meat into the human food chain. The Regulation also requires the marking of such material and extends the requirement to processed products (meat and bone meal and tallow) derived from it. The Commission is currently researching the issue with a view to coming up with suitable proposals.

Q15. What derogations/transitional measures are there?

Most transitional measures allowed for under the EU Regulation have now expired. However, the transitional measure regarding the collection, transport and disposal of former foodstuffs (Commission Regulation (EC) No. 813/2003) which expired on 31 December 2005, has now been superseded by a new Commission Regulation on former foodstuffs, Commission Regulation (EC) no. 197/2006 of 3 February 2006.

Article 23 and 24 of the EU Regulation permit Member States to authorise the use of ABPs for certain purposes, such as research purposes. It allows fallen stock and Category 3 by-products to continue to be used in hunt kennels, knackers' yards, maggot farms and for feeding to birds of prey and reptiles, and allows the burial of pet animals. In England we have exercised most of those derogations (regulations 26, 27 & 28 of the ABP Regulations 2005).

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Page last modified: 9 June, 2008

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs