What does that include?
ABPs can be anything from catering waste and used cooking oil to fallen stock and dead pets, including:
- catering waste
- used cooking oil
- former foodstuffs
- butcher and slaughterhouse waste
- blood
- feathers
- wool
- hides and skins
- fallen stock
- pet animals
- zoo and circus animals
- hunt trophies
- manure
- ova
- embryos and semen
Animal by-products are a potential source of risks to public and animal health. For example improper use of animal by-products has resulted in outbreaks of serious diseases such as foot and mouth disease, classical swine fever, avian influenza and the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). Legislation has been in place for many years to control these risks by setting out the collection, storage, transport, treatment, use and disposal of animal by-products. The legislation governing the control of ABP has been reviewed with the introduction of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 and accompanying implementing Regulations (EU) 142/2011. This is enforced in Northern Ireland by the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015.
Unless stated in full, throughout this guidance Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 and its corresponding implementing Regulation (EU) 142/2011 are referred to as the EU Control Regulation and the EU Implementing Regulation respectively.
Animal by-products are divided into three categories according to their level of risk detailed below.
Categorisation of animal by-products
Under Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 animal by-products can fall into one of three categories that reflect the level of risk to public and animal health.
Category 1 material
Category 1 material is defined in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009.
It is the highest risk, and consists principally of material that is considered a TSE risk, such as Specified Risk Material (SRM) - those parts of an animal considered most likely to harbour a disease such as BSE, for example bovine spinal cord.
Pet animals, zoo and circus animals and experimental animals are also classified as category 1 material due to the level of veterinary drugs and residues they may contain. Wild animals may also be classified as category 1 material when they are suspected of carrying a disease communicable to humans or animals.
Catering waste from means of international transport (catering waste which has come from outside the EU) is also category 1.
Category 2 material
Category 2 material is defined in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009.
Category 2 material is also high risk; it includes fallen stock, manure and digestive tract content. Category 2 is also the default status of any animal by-product not defined in Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 as either category 1 or category 3 material.
Category 3 material
Category 3 material is defined in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009.
Category 3 materials are considered low risk. Category 3 materials includes parts of animals that have been passed fit for human consumption in a slaughterhouse but which are not intended for consumption. Category 3 also includes products of animal origin, or foodstuffs containing products of animal origin which are no longer intended for human consumption for commercial reasons or due to manufacturing or packaging defects or other defects that do not pose a risk to public or animal health.
Mixtures of different categories of animal by-products
Articles 8, 9 and 10 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 require that mixtures of different categories of animal by-products must assume the categorisation of the highest risk animal by-product in the mixture; therefore a mixture containing categories 1, 2 and 3 would be treated as category 1 material.
Disposal and use of animal by-products
The routes available for the disposal and use of animal by-products vary with the category and are listed in articles 12, 13 and 14 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009. In general the higher the risk category the fewer are the options for use. The detailed rules on use and disposal are found in the implementing Regulation (EU) 142/2011.
Derogations
Article 16 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 permits Member States to avail themselves of certain derogations for the use and disposal of animal by-products. Details of our derogations can be found in Section 14 of the link below
Keep animal diseases out of the EU - diseases don't respect borders.
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 206/2009 requires Member States to ensure that at all points of entry into the Union, the veterinary conditions applicable to personal consignments introduced into the Union are brought to the attention of travellers arriving from third countries.
More useful links
- Animal by-products authorisations
- Animal by-products applications
- Animal by-products approved premises