Legal requirements and standards for approved meat establishments.
Once your premises have been approved, you will find the Manual for Official Controls (MOC) beneficial for further information.
The MOC describes the tasks, responsibilities and duties of our staff carrying out official controls in approved establishments.
Manual for Official Controls guidance
The Manual for Official Controls documentation is accurate as of 5 August 2021. Changes to the MOC can be found in the revision log.
Important
EU references in FSA guidance documents
The FSA is updating all EU references, to accurately reflect the law now in force, in all new or amended guidance published since the Transition Period ended at the end of 2020. In some circumstances it may not always be practicable for us to have all EU references updated at the point we publish new or amended guidance.
Other than in Northern Ireland, any references to EU Regulations in this guidance should be read as meaning retained EU law. You can access retained EU law via HM Government EU Exit Web Archive. This should be read alongside any EU Exit legislation that was made to ensure retained EU law operates correctly in a UK context. EU Exit legislation is on legislation.gov.uk. In Northern Ireland, EU law will continue to apply in respect to the majority of food and feed hygiene and safety law, as listed in the Northern Ireland Protocol, and retained EU law will not apply to Northern Ireland in these circumstances.
Manual for Official Controls revision log
Changes to the Manual for Official Controls as of 22 July 2021.
Chapter 2.3
- Section 1.2.5 - Amendment: (EC) 1/2005 and Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 SI 3260 and (Wales) Order 2007 WSI 1047 (WATO) added to the first bullet the words 'ensure appropriate action is taken immediately to safeguard the welfare of the animal, this may be slaughter where the animal is injured’.
- Section 2.1.2 - Amendment: SOP requirements adding 'legislative reference ‘Regulation EC1099/2009 Article 2, (i) states: "standard operating procedures" means a set of written instructions aimed at achieving uniformity of the performance of a specific function or standard’. Adding the sentence ‘A business operator may use standard operating procedures as described in the guides to good practice.’ Adding legal reference ‘Article 6, (4) states: BOs shall make available to the competent authority their standard operating procedures upon request.’
- Section 3.1.6 - Amendment: Team responsibility, should changed to must.
- Section 3.4.3 Amendment: Score definition. the word should changed to must.
- Section 3.5.1 - Amendment: LA / APHA contact words in serious and/or to the sentence ‘In serious and / or urgent cases both the LA and APHA in the area where the slaughterhouses are located must also be contacted and informed of the suspected breach’.
- Section 5.1 - Amendment: Requirements (England) now makes clear the application to England only by the addition of the word in brackets (England) to the section heading.
- Section 5.2 - New section: Viewing and monitoring CCTV
- Section 6.2.3 - Amendment: Summary of species and activities – The addition of the words ‘After 1 May 2017’ after the horizontal column heading relating to ‘Calves’
Chapter 2.4
- Amended section: 6.1.5 Delayed evisceration
- New section: 6.1.6: Partial evisceration: effilé or roped poultry
- New section: 6.1.7: Authorisation process for partially eviscerated poultry (“effilé” or “roped”)
- New Form: Annex 15 – Effilé Application Form
Chapter 6
- Annex 8a - Revised Annex 8a CS117 – TB/EBL FSA consumables for other red meat abattoirs form.
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Annex 8b - Revised Annex 8b CS118 – TB/EBL FSA consumables for APHA contracted abattoirs.
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Annex 9 - Revised Annex 9 Sample: TB24.
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Annex 10 - Revised Annex10 Sample: TB24c.
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Annex 11 - Revised Annex 11 Sample: TB16b.
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Annex 12 - Revised Annex 12 Sample: TB24b.
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Annex 13 - Revised Annex 13 Sample: TB24g.
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Annex 16a - Revised Annex 16a Sample: TB50.
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Annex 19 - Revised Annex 19 Sample: TB55a.
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Annex 21 - Revised Annex 21 CS115 – DNA equipment form.
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Annex 31b - Revised Annex 31b TR558 - Private TB Reactor Slaughter/Direct Contacts (DCs) Form.
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Annex 32 - Revised Annex 32 Sample: TB24h.
Chapter 7
- Annex 8 - Revised Annex8 change to the legal reference in the heading. Amended from Article 138(1) to Article 148(5). Adding ‘Retained Regulation’ where appropriate and corrections to the titles of UK regulations which should be prefixed by The….’ and not ‘the….’.