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2 2000

NATIONAL BEEF ASSURANCE SCHEME ACT, 2000

PART I

Preliminary and General

Short title and commencement.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the National Beef Assurance Scheme Act, 2000 .

(2) The Diseases of Animals Acts, 1966 to 1996, and section 35 may be cited together as the Diseases of Animals Acts, 1966 to 2000, and shall be construed together as one.

(3) The Livestock Marts Act, 1967 , and section 36 may be cited together as the Livestock Marts Acts, 1967 and 2000, and shall be construed together as one.

(4) The Slaughter of Animals Acts, 1935 and 1988, and section 37 may be cited together as the Slaughter of Animals Acts, 1935 to 2000, and shall be construed together as one.

(5) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

Interpretation.

2. —(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“abattoir” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2(1) of the Abattoirs Act, 1988 , but shall not include a premises specified in section 4 of that Act;

“additives” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 1(3) of Council Directive No. 96/51/EC(1) ;

“agriculture inspector” means an authorised officer who holds a post in one of the agricultural inspectorate grades and has been appointed by the Minister to discharge the functions of an agricultural inspector under this Act;

“animal” means a bovine animal;

“assembly centre” means a holding, collection centre or mart at which animals from different holdings are grouped together to form consignments of animals intended for trade;

“authorised officer” means—

(a) a person appointed by the Minister under section 29 to be an authorised officer for the purposes of any or all of the provisions of this Act, or

(b) a person deemed to have been appointed as an authorised officer under section 30 , or

(c) an officer of a health board established under the Health Act, 1970 , authorised in writing by the chief executive officer of the board to be an authorised officer for the purposes of section 6 (1) (d) and (2);

“carcase” means the whole body of a slaughtered animal after—

(a) bleeding and evisceration,

(b) removal of the limbs at the carpus and tarsus,

(c) removal of the head, tail and udder, if any, and

(d) skinning;

“certificate of approval” or “certificate” means a certificate of approval granted under section 10 , and “certificate” shall be construed accordingly;

“CMMS” means the computerised cattle movement monitoring system;

“dealer” means any person who buys and sells animals commercially, either directly or indirectly, who has a regular turnover of these animals and who within a maximum period of 30 days from the date of purchasing animals resells them or relocates them to other premises not within the ownership or control of that person;

“farmer” means a keeper, other than a dealer, who is the owner or person in charge of a herd or to whom a herd number is for the time being allocated by an officer of the Minister;

“feedingstuffs” means products of vegetable or animal origin in their natural state, fresh or preserved, and products derived from the industrial processing thereof, and organic or inorganic substances, used singly or in mixtures, whether or not containing additives, for oral animal feeding;

“food business” has the meaning assigned to it by the European Communities (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1998 (S.I. No. 86 of 1998);

“herd” means the animals which are for the time being on a particular holding and, in the case where only one animal is for the time being on a particular holding, the animal shall for the purpose of this Act be regarded as being a herd;

“herd number” means the number allocated for the time being to a herd for the purposes of the Bovine Tuberculosis (Attestation of the State and General Provisions) Order, 1989 (S.I. No. 308 of 1989);

“holding” means any establishment, construction or, in the case of an open-air farm, any place in which animals are kept situated within the State;

“keeper” means a person who is responsible for animals on a permanent or temporary basis;

“manufacture” means the total or partial manufacture of any additive, premixture or feedingstuff and includes processing, compounding, formulating, filling, dividing up, packing, labelling and presentation, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“mart” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 3 of the Livestock Marts Regulations, 1968 (S.I. No. 251 of 1968);

“meat” means any part of an animal that can be, or is, used for human consumption, including fresh meat, meat products, minced meat and meat preparations;

“meat plant” means any premises used in connection with the slaughter, production, processing or storage of animals, carcases or meat that is—

(a) registered under the Agricultural Produce (Fresh Meat) Acts, 1930 to 1988, and which is for the time being occupied by a person who holds a licence and is registered under those Acts,

(b) approved or registered under Council Directive 64/433/EEC(1) , as amended, and as implemented by the European Communities (Fresh Meat) Regulations, 1997 (S.I. No. 434 of 1997),

(c) approved under Council Directive No. 77/99/EEC(2) , as amended, and as implemented by the European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 and 1997 (S.I. No. 126 of 1995 and No. 175 of 1997), or

(d) approved under Council Directive No. 94/65/EC(3) , as implemented by the European Communities (Minced Meat and Meat Preparations) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 243 of 1996);

“Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development;

“movement permit” means a permit issued under section 22 or a movement permit issued under the Diseases of Animals Act, 1966 ;

“participants” means the persons referred to in section 5 (1);

“premises” includes any land, building, dwelling or temporary construction;

“premixtures” means mixtures of additives or mixtures of one or more additives with substances used as carriers, intended for the manufacture of feedingstuffs;

“veterinary inspector” means an authorised officer who is a veterinary surgeon and who is appointed by the Minister to discharge the functions of a veterinary inspector specified in this Act;

“veterinary surgeon” means any person who is currently entered in the register established under the Veterinary Surgeons Act, 1931 .

(2) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a section or Schedule is a reference to a section of or Schedule to this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and

(c) a reference to an enactment includes a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act.

(3) Reference in this Act to feedingstuffs shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to additives, premixtures or feedingstuffs, as the case may be, manufactured in the State or imported into the State for bovine animals.

(4) References to animals, carcases and meat in this Act shall be construed as animals, carcases or meat produced in the State or animals imported into the State and the carcases or meat of those animals.

(1) O.J. No. L235, 17.9.96.

(1) O.J. No. L121, 29.7.64.

(2) O.J. No. L26, 31.1.77.

(3) O.J. No. L368, 14.12.94.