Animal By-Products General Guidance

Animal by-products (ABPs) are animal carcases, parts of carcases or products of animal origin that are not intended for human consumption. This includes:

Animal by-products are a potential source of risks to public and animal health. For example improper use of animal by-products has resulted in outbreaks of serious diseases such as foot and mouth disease, classical swine fever, avian influenza and the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Legislation has been in place for many years to control these risks by setting out the rules for collection, storage, transport, treatment, use and disposal of animal by-products.

The legislation governing the control of ABP has been reviewed with the introduction of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 and accompanying implementing Regulation (EU) 142/2011. This is enforced in Northern Ireland by the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011.

Unless stated in full, throughout this guidance Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 and its corresponding implementing Regulation (EU) 142/2011 are referred to as the EU Control Regulation and the EU Implementing Regulation respectively.

Animal by-products are divided into 3 categories according to their level of risk detailed below.

Under Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 animal by-products can fall into one of three categories that reflect the level of risk to public and animal health.

Category 1 material is defined in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009.

It is the highest risk, and consists principally of material that is considered a TSE risk, such as Specified Risk Material (SRM) - those parts of an animal considered most likely to harbour a disease such as BSE, e.g. bovine spinal cord.

Pet animals, zoo and circus animals and experimental animals are also classified as category 1 material due to the level of veterinary drugs and residues they may contain. Wild animals may also be classified as category 1 material when they are suspected of carrying a disease communicable to humans or animals.

Catering waste from means of international transport (i.e. which has come from outside the EU) is also category 1.

Category 2 material is defined in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009.

Category 2 material is also high risk; it includes fallen stock, manure and digestive tract content. Category 2 is also the default status of any animal by-product not defined in Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 as either category 1 or category 3 material.

Category 3 material is defined in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009.

Category 3 materials are considered low risk. Category 3 materials includes parts of animals that have been passed fit for human consumption in a slaughterhouse but which are not intended for consumption. Category 3 also includes products of animal origin, or foodstuffs containing products of animal origin which are no longer intended for human consumption for commercial reasons or due to manufacturing or packaging defects or other defects that do not pose a risk to public or animal health.

Articles 8, 9 and 10 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 require that mixtures of different categories of animal by-products must assume the categorisation of the highest risk animal by-product in the mixture; therefore a mixture containing categories 1, 2 and 3 would be treated as category 1 material.

The routes available for the disposal and use of animal by-products vary with the category and are listed in articles 12, 13 and 14 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009. In general the higher the risk category the fewer are the options for use. The detailed rules on use and disposal are found in the implementing Regulation (EU) 142/2011.

Article 16 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 permits member States to avail themselves of certain derogations for the use and disposal of animal by-products.  Details of our derogations can be found in Section 14 of the DARD Guidance on changes to the Animal By-Products Regulations.

Article 20 of Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 provides for the authorisation of alternative methods for use and disposal of animal by-products.

A range of guidance documents have been prepared and can be accessed via the related items box.