Generally speaking the Public Abattoir operates under two
broad categories of legislation: [1] the EU (and National) food safety including the hygiene package, and the EU
legislation regulating agricultural markets.
European and national legislation define the food safety
objectives to be achieved, leaving the food operators responsible for adopting
the safety measures to be implemented.
Key pieces of the food safety and hygiene legislation are:
- Veterinary Services Act
- Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament andof the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (MT – No Maltese version is published on the EU Website)
- Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament andof the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food ofanimal origin (MT – No Maltese version is published on the EU Website)
- Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament andof the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific rules for the organisationof official controls on products of animal origin intended for humanconsumption (MT – No Maltese version is published on the EU Website)
For further information and other applicable legislation,
one may visit the Food Safety webpage on the eurlex website
Key pieces of legislation regulating animal welfare are:
- Animal Welfare Act
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing (Text with EEA relevance).
Key pieces of the EU legislation regulating agricultural
markets are:
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1308/2013 of 17 December 2013 establishing
a common organisation of markets in agricultural products (Single CMO
Regulation) – [EN] [MT]
- COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1249/2008 of 10 December 2008
laying down detailed rules on the implementation of the Community scales for
the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcases and the reporting of prices
thereof – [EN] [MT]