Republic of Latvia Cabinet Regulation No. 624 Adopted 17 October 2017

Requirements for the Handling of Wild Game and Their Meat and the Supply Thereof to a Final Consumer in Small Quantities

Issued pursuant to
Section 42, Clause 2 of the Veterinary Medicine Law
and Section 8, Paragraph ten of the Law
on the Supervision of the Handling of Food

1. The Regulation prescribes:

1.1. the procedures for direct supplies of small quantities of wild game meat to final consumers or a retail establishment directly supplying the final consumer;

1.2. the hygiene requirements for the handling of wild game meat.

2. The terms "wild game", "large wild game", "small wild game", "meat", "carcass", and "offal" used in this Regulation correspond to the definitions provided in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin.

3. A small quantity of wild game meat shall be:

3.1. for large wild game - 500 kg of meat per week;

3.2. for small wild game - 100 kg of meat per week.

4. At a hunting site:

4.1. large wild game shall, as soon as possible, be bled, and their stomachs and intestines shall be removed if it is intended to be removed at a hunting site. The head and diaphragm of hunted animals susceptible to trichinosis shall be transported to a game handling establishment and, upon removing, identified with the specific carcass;

4.2. if necessary, the viscera will be removed for small wild game;

4.3. the viscera of hunted game shall be identifiable as viscera of the specific animal, however, they may be removed from the carcass;

4.4. a person who has been trained in accordance with the requirements laid down in Section IV, Chapter I of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (hereinafter - the trained person) shall carry out the initial examination of the game and the viscera removed.

5. The owner of wild animals kept in enclosed areas shall ensure that:

5.1. medicinal products are not used on wild game, and they have not been treated in any other way;

5.2. wild game do not suffer from any illness that might affect the safety of the meat.

6. The body of the hunted animal and its viscera, except for the stomach and intestines if they have been removed at the hunting site, shall be identified and as soon as possible transported to the game handling site where the chilling thereof is commenced.

7. During transportation:

7.1. when transporting several game, heaping must be avoided;

7.2. cooling of game to the temperature referred to in Paragraph 14 of this Regulation shall be ensured if transportation from a hunting site to a game handling site takes more than two hours.

8. The hunted animal or its meat shall be supplied to a final consumer or a retail establishment directly supplying the final consumer if:

8.1. the animal has been hunted at a site for which hunting restrictions have not been determined due to environmental pollution or detection of infectious animal disease;

8.2. the post-mortem (hereinafter - the post-mortem) inspection at a game handling site has been carried out by the trained person who has additionally acquired skills for post-mortem inspection of hunted animals which are coordinated with the Food and Veterinary Service (hereinafter - the Service), or by a veterinarian authorised by the Service (hereinafter - the authorised veterinarian);

8.3. the game has been handled at a game handling site which has been registered in the Register of Objects under Supervision of the Service in accordance with the procedures specified in the laws and regulations regarding the approval and registration of food establishments;

8.4. the carcass and meat of the hunted animal is marked in accordance with the requirements of the laws and regulations governing the handling of food. Health mark on a carcass shall be placed by the trained person or authorised veterinarian, thus certifying that the meat of the hunted animal is for human consumption;

8.5. the game meat susceptible to the trichinae agent has been tested in a laboratory that conforms to Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, amending Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, (EC) No 396/2005, (EC) No 1069/2009, (EC) No 1107/2009, (EU) No 1151/2012, (EU) No 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No 1/2005 and (EC) No 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC and 2008/120/EC, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 89/608/EEC, 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council Decision 92/438/EEC (Official Controls Regulation). Results of the testing certify that no trichinae agent presence has been found in the meat.

9. The post-mortem inspection of the hunted animal at a handling site shall be performed immediately after skinning.

10. If the authorised veterinary or trained person does not participate in the inspection of game at the hunting site, the hunted animal and its viscera, except for the stomach and intestines if they have been removed at the hunting site, shall be presented to the authorised veterinarian for performing a veterinary inspection at the game handling site.

11. If a hunter, prior to hunting the animal, establishes abnormal behaviour of wild game, or the trained person, during removal of viscera, establishes pathological changes at the hunting site, the hunted animal and its viscera, except for the stomach and intestines if they have been removed at the hunting site, shall be presented to the authorised veterinarian for performing a veterinary inspection.

12. The performer of economic activity shall ensure the following at the game handling site:

12.1. a separate place for skinning or depilation and removal of viscera from the carcass;

12.2. a separated place or room for chilling the carcass;

12.3. sufficient natural or artificial lighting;

12.4. a place for veterinary inspection;

12.5. instruments and equipment for veterinary inspection;

12.6. facilities for the disinfection of tools with hot water at a temperature of not less than 82 °C, or an alternative system for disinfection;

12.7. collection and disposal of inedible by-products in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 (Animal by-products Regulation).

13. If there is no separate place or room for cutting meat at a game handling site, the cutting of meat shall be commenced after the rooms are cleaned, washed, and disinfected.

14. During transportation, storage, and selling, the cooling of the meat of hunted animals shall be ensured and temperature shall be maintained:

14.1. for large wild game carcasses - up to a temperature which does not exceed 7 °C throughout the meat;

14.2. for small wild game carcasses - up to a temperature which does not exceed 4 °C throughout the meat;

14.3. for offal - up to a temperature which does not exceed 3 °C.

15. In order to supply the meat of hunted animals to a final consumer or a retail establishment directly supplying the final consumer, a hunter, a hunting team or an owner of wild game hunted in restricted areas and the authorised veterinarian or the trained person shall, according to their competence, ensure the information referred to in Annex to this Regulation for supply of small quantities of wild game or their meat.

16. The information indicated in Annex to this Regulation shall be available at the handling site for three years after the date when the animal was hunted.

17. Persons who have received a certification of the trained person which does not mention the acquisition of skills required for post-mortem inspection may perform post-mortem inspection at the game handling site without additional training until 31 December 2019.

18. Cabinet Regulation No. 645 of 20 July 2010, Regulations Regarding the Procedures, by Which Hunters Supply a Final Consumer with Game Animals or Their Meat in Small Quantities, and the Hygiene Requirements for the Handling of Game Animals and Their Meat (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 2010, No. 115), is repealed.

Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis

Minister for Agriculture Jānis Dūklavs

 

Annex
Cabinet Regulation No. 624
17 October 2017

Information to be Provided when Supplying Small Quantities of Wild Game or their Meat

1. Hunter's given name, surname.

2. Hunter's registration number or the number of housing.

3. Number of the hunting permit.

4. Number of the ear tag of the animal or mark number of limited wild game.

5. Date and time when the animal was hunted.

6. Site where the animal was hunted.

7. Animal species.

8. Weight in kilograms.

9. Number in pieces.

10. Indication with an expiry date "Izlietot līdz ..." [Use by].

11. Storage temperature.

12. Registration number of the game handling site or the hunter in the Register of Objects under Supervision of the Food and Veterinary Service.

13. Date of the initial inspection at the hunting site.

14. The date of post-mortem inspection or veterinary inspection at the game handling site.

15. Opinion on the fact that the wild game meat is fit for human consumption without restrictions.

16. Number of the certificate issued to the trained person for training in the field of health and hygiene requirements, and the name of the hunting organisation.

17. The name of the establishment and the address to which the meat of the hunted animal is sent.

18. The date on which the meat of the hunted animal is sent to the establishment.

Minister for Agriculture Jānis Dūklavs

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Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)