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48
CERTIFICATION OF CERTAIN FOOD PRODUCTS
FOR EXPORT TO THE DOMINIONS.
In view of the requirements of the Food Laws in operation
in the Dominions, a system of certification for food products
which are derived from the flesh of cattle, sheep, swine or
goats, or from game or poultry, and are prepared or packed
in England and Wales for export to the Dominions, has been
arranged.
The Certifying Officer—usually the Medical Officer of
Health—is required to keep himself informed, by personal
inquiry and in other available ways, as to :—
(1) The sanitary condition, structure and character of premises on which
the food products are prepared, stored or packed, with special regard
to the possibility of contamination of the food products at any stage.
(2) The cleanliness and wholesomeness of the methods employed in
preparing, storing or packing the food products.
(3) The precautions taken to avoid the utilisation for food purposes of
diseased, unsound or unwholesome material in any portion of the
premises ; and arrangements for the safe disposal of any material
which, on account of disease, unsoundness, unwholesomeness, or for
any other reason, is unfit for human food.
In the case of products derived from cattle, sheep, swine, or goats,
the Certifying Officer must also satisfy himself that the animals from which
the products are prepared have been subjected to an ante-mortem and postmortem
veterinary inspection and found free from disease and suitable for
human food.
Where the products are prepared from animals slaughtered in the
United Kingdom, the Certifying Officer before certifying as to Veterinary
examination must be satisfied :—
(a) That the animals were subjected to veterinary examination antemortem
and post mortem by an Officer of the Local Authority for
which he himself acts; or
(b) That the animals were slaughtered in a public abattoir under official
veterinary inspection ;
or he must be furnished by the applicant with a declaration signed by a
qualified veterinary surgeon, appointed by the firm with the approval of