Dear Sir or Madam,

1. This letter seeks immediate comments on draft regulations to provide for the enforcement, in England, of a European Community (EC) requirement¹ that:

"meat from bovine animals aged more than 30 months and slaughtered in the Community after 1 January 2001 can only be released for human consumption in the Community or for export to third countries if tested negatively for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)".

The requirement is contained in a Commission Regulation and, as you may be aware, such Regulations automatically become law in the Member States to which they are directed. Treaty obligations require that national measures are adopted to enable them to be enforced and penalties applied.

2. I am sorry about the extreme urgency of this consultation but if you have any comments on the draft Regulations, attached at Annex B, I would be grateful to receive them by 10.00 a.m. on Thursday 28 December.



3. The draft Regulations apply to England only. The Agency is consulting separately on similar draft Regulations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Further information

4. A separate letter is enclosed explaining the background to, and the effect of, the Commission Regulation.

Implementation

5. I attach, at Annex C, a draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in respect of these Regulations and the Commission Regulation to which they relate. I would welcome comments on this, including about their effect on businesses.

Consultation

6. Please let me have comments on the draft Regulations and RIA by 10.00 a.m. on Thursday 28 December. I am sorry that time is so short.



7. Please send responses to Ben M^cKie:

by fax on:	020 7238 5600
by email at:	ben.mckie@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk (please put "BSE Testing Consultation" as the subject)
letter:	Room 510 Food Standards Agency Ergon House PO Box 31037 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3WG



8. If you have any queries you can contact Ben on: 020 7238 5757.

9. Please feel free to pass this document to anyone with an interest or send us their contact details and we will arrange for copies to be sent to them. This consultation pack will also be available on our website at www.foodstandards.gov.uk. All comments received will be made available for public examination. If you would prefer your comments not to be made publicly available please indicate this in your response.

Yours faithfully,

J R Bush
Meat Hygiene Division, Branch B

¹ Commission Regulation (EC) No 2777/2000 of 18 December adopting exceptional support measures for the beef market, published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 19 December 2000 (L 321/47)

P O Box 31037, Room 510a Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3WG
Tel: 020 7238 5979 GTN: 238 5979 Fax: 020 7238 5600 E-mail: john.bush@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

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