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Papua New Guinea Consolidated Legislation |
Chapter 238.
Slaughtering Act 1964.
Certified on: / /20 .
INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
Chapter 238.
Slaughtering Act 1964.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS.
INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
AN ACT
entitled
Slaughtering Act 1964,
Being an Act relating to the slaughtering of certain animals, and for other purposes.
PART I. – PRELIMINARY.
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears–
“abattoir” means an abattoir declared under Section 6;
[1]“animals” means cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, deer, goats and buffalo;
“blood” means blood derived from animals, and includes any preparation of such blood;
“carcass” means the body of an animal excluding both the viscera and the organs other than the kidneys;
“cattle” means bulls, cows, oxen, heifers, calves, sheep, horses, asses, mules and goats;
“central killing area” means an area declared to be a central killing area under Section 7;
[2]“feral animal” means deer, or any animal which, in the opinion of a Meat Inspector, is not capable of being confined and is not, or is no longer, domesticated;
“the Chief Meat Inspector” means the Chief Meat Inspector appointed under Section 2;
“disease” means, subject to Subsections (2) and (3), a disease or condition specified in Schedule 1 or any other abnormality;
“licence” means a licence under Section 12;
“licensed slaughterhouse” means a slaughterhouse licensed under Section 12;
“meat” includes any article of food derived or prepared in whole or in part from the carcass or the organs or viscera of animals, otherwise than from blood;
“Meat Inspector” means a person appointed as a Meat Inspector under Section 4;
“pig” includes boar, sow and hog;
“the regulations” means any regulations made under this Act;
“slaughterhouse” means any premises or place used or intended to be used for the slaughtering of animals for sale for human consumption, and includes–
(a) the land surrounding the premises or place; and
(b) holding yards and other places,
used in or in connection with, the slaughtering of animals;
“this Act” includes the regulations.
(2) A carcass that–
(a) is the carcass of a stillborn or unborn animal; or
(b) is oedematose; or
(c) is in poor physical condition,
shall be deemed to be the carcass of an animal suffering from a disease.
(3) An animal, carcass, meat or blood that has an abnormal odour that is associated with disease or otherwise prejudicial to health shall be deemed to be an animal suffering from a disease, or to be affected by a disease, as the case may be.
PART II. – ADMINISTRATION.
The Minister may, by notice in the National Gazette, appoint an officer who is a registered veterinary surgeon to be the Chief Meat Inspector.
The Chief Meat Inspector–
(a) is charged with the general administration of this Act; and
(b) has and may exercise all the powers and functions of a Meat Inspector under this Act.
The Chief Meat Inspector may, by notice in the National Gazette, appoint a person to be a Meat Inspector for the purposes of this Act.
The powers and duties of a Meat Inspector are as prescribed.
PART III. – ABATTOIRS.
The Minister may, by notice in the National Gazette, declare a slaughterhouse erected or proposed to be erected to be an abattoir for the purpose of this Act.
[3]The Minister may, by notice in the National Gazette, declare an area to be a central killing area in relation to a slaughterhouse.
Subject to this Act–
(a) the State may operate an abattoir; or
(b) the Minister may enter into an agreement with a person, on such terms and conditions as seem to him proper, for the operation of an abattoir.
(1)[4] [5]The owner or person in charge of an abattoir may slaughter animals on behalf of the owner of the animals.
(2) Carcasses (including kidneys, livers, hearts, tails, tongues, thick skirts and hides) remain the property of the owner.
(3) Brains and cheeks must be saved for the owner at his request.
(4) All remaining parts of the animal are the property of the owner of the abattoir.
(5) Delivery to the owner shall be in quarter form, but a breakdown to wholesale or retail cuts may be made for the owner if suitable facilities are available at the abattoir.
(6) Hides not removed from the abattoir on the day of slaughter may be destroyed without compensation to the owner.
(7) Meat not collected by the owner within 24 hours after slaughter is stored at the owner’s risk.
(1) In this section, “animals” means cattle or pigs, or any animals to which the Minister, by notice in the National Gazette, declares that this section applies.
(2) Subject to this Act, the owner or person in charge of an abattoir who, without reasonable excuse (proof of which is on him), fails or refuses to accept for slaughtering any animals presented at a reasonable hour for slaughter is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K40.00.
(1)[6] [7]The owner or person in charge of an abattoir may hold animals on agistment in holding paddocks where adequate facilities are available, for a maximum period of two weeks.
(2) No action lies against the owner or person in charge of an abattoir for any loss or damage sustained while animals are held on agistment under Subsection (1).
PART IV. – LICENSING OF SLAUGHTERHOUSES.
Division 1.
Licensing Generally.
(1) An application for a licence for a slaughterhouse may be made in the prescribed form to the Chief Meat Inspector.
(2) Subject to Subsection (4) and to Division 2, where the Chief Meat Inspector is satisfied that any premises are, or any proposed premises the subject of an application under Subsection (1) will be, constructed, equipped and operated in an efficient manner, he may, subject to such conditions and restrictions as he thinks proper, license the premises or proposed premises as a slaughterhouse and issue a licence in the prescribed form.
(3) A licence under this section shall specify the conditions and restrictions (if any) under which the licence is granted.
(4) A licence shall not be issued unless the slaughterhouse proposes to be licensed–
(a) has been inspected by a Meat Inspector; and
(b) complies with the minimum specifications set out in Schedule 2.
(5) A person aggrieved by a decision of the Chief Meat Inspector–
(a) whether or not to license any premises or proposed premises as a slaughterhouse; or
(b) in relation to a condition or restriction to be imposed in relation to a licence,
may appeal to the Minister, whose decision is final.
(6) A licence expires on 30 June next following the date of issue.
(7) The fee for a licence under this section is as prescribed.
(1) The licence issued in respect of a slaughterhouse shall specify the days and hours on and within which animals may be slaughtered in the slaughterhouse.
(2) The days and hours specified under Subsection (1) may, subject to Subsection (3), be varied by the Chief Meat Inspector by endorsement on the licence.
(3) In specifying days and hours under Subsection (1), and in varying any days or hours so specified, the Chief Meat Inspector shall have regard to–
(a) the nature and extent of the business carried on in the slaughterhouse; and
(b) the practicability of having the slaughterhouse and the carcasses, viscera, organs and blood in the slaughterhouse regularly inspected by a Meat Inspector.
(4) A person aggrieved by a decision of the Chief Meat Inspector under this section may appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.
(1) The Chief Meat Inspector may cancel a licence–
(a) where the holder of the licence is convicted of an offence against this Act; or
(b) where, in his opinion, the premises the subject of the licence do not comply with this Act or with any condition or restriction imposed under the licence.
(2) A person whose licence is cancelled under Subsection (1) may appeal to the Minister, whose decision is final.
Division 2.
Restrictions in Central Killing Areas.
No premises or proposed premises in a central killing area may be licensed as a slaughterhouse under this Act.
Notwithstanding this Act, a licence in respect of a slaughterhouse situated within a central killing area determines on the declaration of the central killing area.
The owner of a licensed slaughterhouse to which Section 16 becomes applicable is entitled to such compensation from the State as is agreed on, or in default of agreement as is determined by arbitration.
PART V. – SLAUGHTERING.
Division 1.
General Control.
[8]Subject to Section 19, a person who slaughters animals intended for sale for human consumption, through premises licensed under the Food Sanitation Act 1991, or permits or causes any such animals to be slaughtered, otherwise than–
(a) in an abattoir; or
(b) in a licensed slaughterhouse in accordance with the provisions of the licence, this Act, and the conditions and restrictions (if any) imposed under the licence,
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K100.00.
[9](1)[10] [11]In this section, “emergency slaughtering” means the slaughtering of animals on account of accident or other emergency of such a nature as to make urgent slaughtering necessary and feral slaughtering means the slaughter of feral animals.
(2) Section 18 does not apply to emergency slaughtering.
(3)[12] [13]A person ordering or authorizing emergency or feral slaughtering must immediately notify a Meat Inspector, stating–
(a) the time and place at which the slaughter has taken or is to take place; and
(b)[14] particulars of the animals slaughtered or to be slaughtered, and the reason for the slaughter.
(4)[15] [16]A person who severs the lungs, heart or liver of any emergency or feral slaughtered animals before–
(a) the carcass is inspected by a Meat Inspector; or
(b) the end of the period of 24 hours after the slaughter,
whichever first occurs, is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K50.00.
(5)[17] [18]A person ordering or authorizing the emergency or feral slaughtering of animals for sale for human consumption must, unless the carcasses have been inspected by a Meat Inspector within 24 hours after slaughter and passed as fit for sale for human consumption, take the carcasses of the animals, or cause them to be taken, to an abattoir or a licensed slaughterhouse, and certify in writing to the best of his knowledge–
(a) the time and place at which the slaughter took place; and
(b)[19] particulars of the animals slaughtered and the reason for the slaughter; and
(c)[20] whether or not the animals were suffering from a disease immediately before the slaughter; and
(d)[21] whether or not any drugs had been administered to the animals within the period of 14 days before the slaughter.
(6) A person who certifies, for the purpose of Subsection (5), a fact that he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K100.00.
(7)[22] [23]The owner or person in charge of an abattoir or licensed slaughterhouse must not take the carcasses of emergency-slaughtered animals into the abattoir or slaughterhouse, or permit them to be taken there, unless he has first obtained a certificate issued in accordance with Subsection (5) in respect of them.
(8)[24] [25]Where the carcasses of emergency-slaughtered animals are taken into an abattoir or licensed slaughterhouse, the owner or person in charge of the abattoir or slaughterhouse must ensure that the carcasses are kept isolated from other carcasses, viscera, organs, meat and blood in the abattoir or slaughterhouse until the first-mentioned carcasses have been inspected and passed as fit for human consumption by a Meat Inspector.
(9) Subject to this Act, every carcass dealt with under this section shall be ribbed and quartered before it is released as fit for human consumption.
[26]The owner or person in charge of a slaughterhouse who slaughters, or causes or permits to be slaughtered, for sale for human consumption, any animals that he knows are, or that he could with reasonable diligence ascertain to be, suffering from a disease, is guilty of an offence, unless permission has first been received from a Meat Inspector.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K400.00.
[27]Where, during or after the slaughter of animals under this Act, it is discovered that any organs, carcass, viscera or blood show or shows evidence of disease–
(a) the dressing of the carcass must immediately cease; and
(b) a Meat Inspector must be notified immediately; and
(c) the carcass, organs, viscera and blood must immediately be isolated from any other carcasses, organs, viscera and blood.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K50.00.
Division 2.
Slaughtermen.
(1) The Chief Meat Inspector may issue a certificate, in the prescribed form, as a slaughterman to a person who in his opinion is a fit and proper person to hold such a certificate.
(2) A person aggrieved by a decision of the Chief Meat Inspector under Subsection (1) may appeal to the Minister, whose decision is final.
(1)[28] [29]A person, other than the holder of a certificate under Section 22, who slaughters, or stuns for the purposes of slaughter, any animal intended for sale for human consumption is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K100.00.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to slaughtering authorized by Section 19.
(1) Where the holder of a certificate under Section 22 is convicted of an offence against this Act, the Chief Meat Inspector may cancel the certificate.
(2) A person aggrieved by a cancellation under Subsection (1) may appeal to the Minister, whose decision is final.
A slaughterman who refuses or fails to carry out any reasonable request made to him by a Meat Inspector that relates to his work or duties as a slaughterman in or about a licensed slaughterhouse is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K20.00.
Division 3.
Slaughtering Generally.
A person engaged in the work of slaughtering, or of dressing the carcasses, organs or viscera of animals, in a licensed slaughterhouse who fails to comply with the provisions of Schedule 3, so far as those conditions are applicable to him or to that work, is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K20.00.
A Meat Inspector may at all reasonable times–
(a)[30] enter premises in or on which the slaughtering of animals takes place; and
(b) examine any carcass, organs, viscera or meat or any machinery or apparatus used or suspected of being used in connection with the operations carried on in the premises.
Except where the slaughter is authorized by Section 19, a person who slaughters animals in a licensed slaughterhouse for sale for human consumption without giving to a Meat Inspector at least 24 hours’ notice of his intention to do so is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K20.00.
Except where the slaughter is authorized by Section 19, a person who slaughters or permits to be slaughtered in a licensed slaughterhouse, for sale for human consumption, animals that have not been rested for at least 12 hours immediately before being slaughtered, is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K20.00.
[31]Animals slaughtered in a licensed slaughterhouse shall either be –
(a) rendered insensible to pain by a captive bolt, gunshot, electrical or chemical means or any other means that is rapid and effective before being cut, shackled, hoisted, thrown or cast; or
(b) handled, prepared for slaughter and slaughtered in accordance with ritual requirements of the Jewish religion or any other religious faith that prescribes a method of slaughter whereby animals suffer loss of consciousness by anaemia of the brain caused by the simulation and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K5, 000. 00.
(1) A person who is suffering from–
(a) an infectious or contagious disease; or
(b) an eruption affecting the skin,
and who works or handles meat, blood, organs or viscera in an abattoir or licensed slaughterhouse is guilty of an offence.
(2) The owner or person having charge of an abattoir or licensed slaughterhouse who permits a person who is suffering from–
(a) an infectious or contagious disease; or
(b) an eruption affecting the skin,
to work or handle meat, blood, organs or viscera in the abattoir or slaughterhouse is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K20.00.
(1) The owner or person in charge of a licensed slaughterhouse who fails to provide, to the satisfaction of the Chief Meat Inspector, a person employed in or about the slaughterhouse in the operation of slaughtering, dressing or handling carcasses with clothing suitable for the purposes of the employment is guilty of an offence.
(2) The person in charge of a licensed slaughterhouse who permits a person described in Subsection (1) to wear clothes that are–
(a) unsuitable for the purposes of his employment; or
(b) in a dirty or insanitary condition,
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K20.00.
A person who–
(a) chews or has in his possession betel-nut; or
(b) chews tobacco; or
(c) smokes or expectorates,
while dressing carcasses or handling meat in an abattoir or licensed slaughterhouse is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K20.00.
A person who brings a dog into, or allows a dog to remain in, an abattoir or licensed slaughterhouse is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K10.00.
The owner or person in charge of a slaughterhouse who permits the carcass, or any other part of an animal, that has not been passed as fit for sale for human consumption to be stored with or placed adjacent to a carcass or other part of an animal that has been passed as fit for human consumption is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K50.00.
PART VI. – REMOVAL AND SALE OF MEAT, ETC.
[32]A person who, through premises licensed under the Food Sanitation Act 1991, sells or offers or displays for sale, or causes or permits to be sold or offered or displayed for sale, meat, blood, organs or viscera derived from animals, unless–
(a)[33] it is, or they are, derived from animals slaughtered–
(i) in an abattoir; or
(ii) in a licensed slaughterhouse; or
(iii) as authorized by Section 19; or
(b) it has been, or they have been, lawfully imported into the country,
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K100.00.
A person who takes, or permits to be taken, the carcasses of animals slaughtered in an abattoir or licensed slaughterhouse from the abattoir or slaughterhouse for sale for human consumption unless the carcasses–
(a) have first been inspected by a Meat Inspector; and
(b) have been branded, with the prescribed mark, by a Meat Inspector as fit for human consumption,
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K100.00.
A person, other than a Meat Inspector, who brands a carcass with the mark referred to in Section 37(b) is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K40.00.
A person who, with the intention that it be sold for human consumption, takes, or permits to be taken, the blood of animals slaughtered in an abattoir or licensed slaughterhouse from the abattoir or slaughterhouse is guilty of an offence unless the blood has first been inspected by a Meat Inspector and certified as fit for human consumption.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K100.00.
PART VII. – MISCELLANEOUS.
Where the owner or person in charge of an abattoir, or a person employed at an abattoir, performs services outside the prescribed working hours at the request of, or for the purposes of–
(a) the owner of any cattle; or
(b) a person acting on behalf of the owner of any cattle,
overtime at the prescribed rates shall be charged for those services.
The Head of State, acting on advice, may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters that by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed, or that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act, and in particular for or in relation to–
(a) the regulation of abattoirs; and
(b) the carriage, storage and treatment of carcasses, meat and blood in a licensed slaughterhouse; and
(c) the ventilation and drainage of a licensed slaughterhouse; and
(d) the cleaning and disinfecting of licensed slaughterhouses and all utensils, machinery and vehicles used in connection with them; and
(e) the removal and disposal of inedible or waste blood, inedible or waste offal and filth from a licensed slaughterhouse; and
(f) the destruction and disposal of meat and blood that is affected by disease or that is unfit for human consumption; and
(g) the application or making of any test for the detection of disease in animals; and
(h) the records to be kept and the returns to be made in a licensed slaughterhouse; and
(i) the fees payable in respect of inspections by a Meat Inspector; and
(j) the charges payable in respect of–
(i) the slaughter; and
(ii) the dressing of carcasses; and
(iii) the cutting-up of carcasses; and
(iv) the storage of carcasses or meat,
of animals in an abattoir; and
(k) the fees payable in respect of the transport of animals, or of meat or blood, to or from an abattoir; and
(l) the seizing and disposal of meat or blood that is intended for sale for human consumption and that has not been passed in accordance with this Act; and
(m) the treatment of diseased meat and blood that can, in appropriate cases, be made fit for human consumption; and
(n) penalties of fines not exceeding K40.00 and default penalties of fines not exceeding K10.00 for offences against the regulations.
SCHEDULE 1 – DISEASES, ETC.
Sec. 1.
Actinobacillosis or actinomycosis.
Anaemia.
Anthrax.
Blackleg.
Brucellosis.
Bruising, extensive and severe.
Caseous lymphadenitis associated with emaciation.
Caseous lymphadenitis.
Cysticercus bovis.
Cysticercus cellulosae.
Cysticercus ovis.
Decomposition.
Emaciation (pathological).
Erysipelas.
Fever.
Foot and mouth disease.
Glanders.
Jaundice.
Malignant catarrhal fever.
Mastitis.
Melanosis.
Metritis.
Oedema.
Pericarditis.
Peritonitis.
Pleurisy.
Pneumonia.
Pyaemia (including joint-ill).
Sarcocysts.
Septicaemia or toxaemia.
Sparganosis.
Swine fever.
Tetanus.
Trichinosis.
Tuberculosis.
Tumours–
(a) malignant with secondary growths; or
(b) multiple.
Uraemia.
SCHEDULE 2 – MINIMUM SPECIFICATIONS FOR LICENSED SLAUGHTERHOUSES.
Sec. 12.
1. The walls and floors must be of a hard, smooth and impervious material, with rounded corners and edges.
2. The floor must be sloped, running to an open drain that in turn runs into an open gully-trap situated outside the slaughterhouse.
3. The gully-trap must in turn run into a closed underground drain that is at least–
(a) 15m long when it runs into a dry well; or
(b) 2m long when it runs into a septic system.
4. Wooden materials must not be used in the construction of the slaughterhouse unless they are used at least 2m above the floor of the slaughterhouse.
5. A plentiful supply of clean potable water under pressure must be available at the slaughterhouse floor.
6. The slaughterhouse must be covered by a roof.
7. The slaughterhouse must contain–
(a) a hanging rail; and
(b) a device capable of raising a carcass well clear of the floor; and
(c) an inspection table made of galvanized metal or other non-absorbent material; and
(d) receptacles, properly constructed of galvanized metal or other non-absorbent material, sufficient for the collecting and removing of any blood, manure, garbage and filth from the slaughterhouse; and
(e) one or more hand basins.
8. Splash walls must be at least 1m high.
9. The knocking-down pens must be placed outside the floor and must be so situated that the animal will roll onto the floor after stunning.
10. Where pigs are slaughtered in a slaughterhouse, an adequate scalding tank must be provided.
11. A slaughterhouse must contain–
(a) a cold store capable of being reduced to a temperature of 1.5° C; or
(b) a flyproof hanging room,
as the Chief Meat Inspector, in any particular case, directs.
12. A slaughterhouse must have a supply of hot water of not less than 80° C.
13. Where the Chief Meat Inspector so requires, a slaughterhouse must be made flyproof.
14. Holding yards for the overnight resting of animals before slaughter must be sheltered from wind and rain and paved, and be provided with an ample supply of drinking water, and any races from the yards to the knocking-down pen must also be paved.
SCHEDULE 3 – INSTRUCTIONS TO SLAUGHTERMEN, ETC.
Sec. 26.
1. If–
(a) any disease if found in any part of a carcass, or in any organ, or in the viscera; or
(b) there is an appreciable departure from the normal; or
(c) the carcass is emaciated or poorly nourished,
the entire carcass, organs and viscera must be set aside for further inspection by a Meat Inspector.
2. Evidence of disease must not be modified or obliterated by washing, rubbing, stripping or in any other manner until the carcass, organs and viscera have been examined by a Meat Inspector.
3. In no case other than cases of “back-bleeding” shall the serous membranes be stripped except by or under the direction of a Meat Inspector, and in any case of back-bleeding in which immediate stripping is necessary to preserve the marketability of the carcass, the membranes must not be entirely detached from the carcass until it has been examined by a Meat Inspector.
4. A tuberculous carcass must not be wiped down with the ordinary wiping cloth, and a cloth that has been used to wipe down a tuberculosis carcass must not again be used until it has been boiled for 15 minutes in water containing soda.
5. Knives that have been used for cutting or incising any diseased organ, gland or tissue must not again be used for any purpose until they have been disinfected in boiling water, or in other suitable disinfectant.
6. A gravid uterus must not be opened on the slaughterhouse floor.
Office of Legislative Counsel, PNG
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