Illegal meat and smokies guidance notes Scotland

Monday 20 December 2004

The Agency has issued new guidance on smokies, illegal meat and poultry meat for enforcement officers in local authorities in Scotland.

The sale for human consumption of meat and poultry meat that has been:

• illegally slaughtered
• legally slaughtered but subsequently becomes unfit or not intended for human consumption
• illegally imported

is referred to in this guidance as 'illegal meat', which may have serious implications for both public and animal health.

Professional, well-organised criminals can be involved in the illegal meat trade. They may use sophisticated processes to transform diseased and decomposing meat into presentable product, good enough to deceive professional buyers. They illegally slaughter sheep and goats to produce 'smokies' for the ethnic food trade, illegally slaughter older cattle in contravention of BSE controls, use couriers to smuggle meat, including bush meat, and meat products, through ports and airports, and divert animal by-products and meat waste into the human food chain.

Laws that regulate the production and sale of meat are constantly changing, and are enforced by both central and local Government agencies. This guidance is intended for local authority officers, and focuses on their powers and duties to deal with illegal meat.

The guidance does not cover enforcement in licensed premises that are subject to supervision by the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), except at licensed Wild Game Processing Facilities when they produce wild game meat for the domestic market under the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995. Similarly, it does not cover controls at ports and other points of import into the United Kingdom. It does, however, cover powers to deal with meat that has already been illegally imported and is subsequently detected later in the supply chain.

For the purposes of this guidance, the term 'meat' includes uncooked fresh, chilled and frozen red meat, poultry meat, game meat, rabbit meat, bush meat, snails, reptiles and the flesh of any other land animal that may be used for human consumption, including meat that has been cut, minced or chopped. It does not include meat products in the wider sense.

References to legislation in this guidance must be regarded only as a summary of key points. Enforcement action should never be taken without reference to original copies of the legislation that have been updated with all the relevant amendments and revocations that apply at the time.

The Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee (SFELC) notes provide guidance to local authorities on action in relation to the illegal slaughter of sheep and the marketing of 'smokies'.