Day 104 - 15 Mar 95 - Page 13
1 or whatever before they grant a licence?
2 A. Yes, a senior veterinary officer who, in fact, is the
3 regional meat hygiene adviser, he is the senior official
4 who deals with these matters, does visit before the licence
5 is issued and twice a year, six-monthly.
6
7 Q. Twice a year they come to check up that all is in order?
8 A. Indeed, yes.
9
10 Q. Is it an annual licence?
11 A. No, once the licence is given, it is there for good so
12 long as they maintain the standards.
13
14 Q. If they did not, then it would be removed, would it?
15 A. It would be revoked.
16
17 Q. Would they be given the chance to put things right before
18 it is removed?
19 A. Indeed. Could I add that the visits are monthly, in
20 fact, from outside Ministry inspectors.
21
22 Q. Monthly?
23 A. Yes, there is a divisional man who visits monthly and a
24 regional man who visits twice a year to check that the
25 licence is being complied with.
26
27 Q. Does the MAFF take any samples for its own analysis?
28 A. In respect of meat residues, yes, but not
29 microbiological samples.
30
31 Q. So it looks for hormones, antibiotics and pesticides?
32 A. On the surveillance analysis tests, yes.
33
34 Q. Is there also an OVS in the plant at Jarrett?
35 A. Yes, as a condition of an EC licence, there must be a
36 full-time OVS.
37
38 Q. What about meat inspectors?
39 A. Again, in order to assist the OVS there must be an
40 adequate number of trained meat inspectors to carry out
41 mainly post mortem duties, but to assist him in whatever
42 way he chooses.
43
44 Q. I will not ask you to describe the functions of all these
45 people because we have had buckets of evidence about them,
46 Mr. Bennett. Can I ask you to get down from the shelf
47 behind you two files, please? One, I think, is No. 9. It
48 is a yellow file IX. It is called Rearing and Slaughter.
49 The other one is a slimmer file called a "Jarrett file".
50 Have you got a folding plan?
51 A. Yes.
52
53 Q. Then I have wasted your energy. It is the plan I want you
54 to look at. My Lord, it is behind Mr. David Walker's
55 statement.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I have it.
58
59 MR. RAMPTON: Tab 9.
60
