Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 61
1 A. Yes.
2
3 Q. In 1991?
4 A. Yes, I have heard of that.
5
6 Q. Roughly speaking, how many other outbreaks of disease or
7 food-borne illness attributable to that organism do you
8 know of that have happened in this country, say, in the
9 last 10 years?
10 A. I know of an outbreak in Scotland which was associated
11 with meat and other foodstuffs as possibly being the cause
12 of it. I have to say also that in all the cases I have
13 read about and studied, there has been a range of
14 foodstuffs possibly involved. I cannot, in fact, stood
15 here, recall any other incidents.
16
17 Q. Thank you. The penultimate question: You said that the
18 chilling of detention rooms in abattoirs, red meat
19 abattoirs, became a statutory requirement by regulation,
20 I think, under the Food Act?
21 A. It was a slaughterhouse hygiene inspection regulation.
22
23 Q. Anyway, you said it has been a United Kingdom statutory
24 requirement since 1992?
25 A. As far as I recollect, it is, I am sure -- because
26 there was a split in the requirement between EC and
27 domestic -----
28
29 Q. One lot came in October 1992?
30 A. Yes.
31
32 Q. The other lot in January 1993?
33 A. The requirement, yes.
34
35 Q. My question is this: You said that, in effect, the
36 abattoirs which must, in due course, comply with that set
37 of regulations were given, as it were, a period of grace to
38 get their house in order; is that right?
39 A. Yes, that is correct.
40
41 Q. First of all, what sort of period of grace were they given?
42 A. It tended to extend itself by 12 months after 1992 to
43 1993 and now to 1995.
44
45 Q. I see.
46 A. There was a discussion of a further derogation, as the
47 phrase has it.
48
49 Q. When did the grant of that period of grace come from?
50 A. It came from an EU directive.
51
52 Q. It did?
53 A. Yes, which would be implemented again by a UK
54 regulation.
55
56 Q. Was there a kind of a moratorium, is that what it was, on
57 compliance or was it just a postponement?
58 A. It was a postponement. The word was "derogation". It
59 was a period of grace again to bring structures up to the
60 new standards required.
