Meat regulations

Find out what your business must do to meet retained EU regulation, and what exemptions might apply. 

Essential Requirements

Retained EU Regulation 853/2004 lays down specific hygiene requirements that must be implemented by food businesses handling food of animal origin at all stages of the food chain. It requires that Food Business Operators place products of animal origin on the market only if they have been prepared and handled exclusively in establishments:

• that meet the relevant requirements of Retained EU Regulation 852/2004,
• that are specifically approved by the competent authority (unless explicitly exempt -  read advice on registration and approval), and
• that apply the specific controls set out by sector in Retained EU Regulation 853/2004.

Exemptions

Decisions on whether or not businesses require to be either approved or registered are based on the legal requirements set out in Retained EU Regulation 852/2004 and 853/2004.  Approval is not required in the following circumstances:

• primary production for private domestic use,
• the domestic preparation, handling or storage of food for private domestic consumption,
• the direct supply, by the producer, of small quantities of primary products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer,
• the direct supply, by the producer, of small quantities of meat from poultry and lagomorphs slaughtered on the farm to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying such meat to the final consumer as fresh meat, or
• hunters who supply small quantities of wild game or wild game meat directly to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer.