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109
EXPORT OF FOOD OF ANIMAL ORIGIN TO ARGENTINA.
In consequence of a Decree issued on the 4th October, 1906, by the Argentine
Government, requiring that all pigs and other imported animal products should be
accompanied by a certificate to the effect that the factory where the goods were
prepared was under sanitary supervision. The Local Government Board, after consultation
with the Board of Agriculture and the Board of Trade, formulated certain
conditions under which meat products would be accompanied by an official certificate
approved by the Argentine Authorities in respect of meat products exported from
Great Britain. (The official certificate can only be issued by an official designated to
act as "certifying officer" duly appointed by the Local Government Board.)
These conditions were duly set forth in a Memorandum, issued in November, 1907,
by the Local Government Board, for the guidance of persons engaged in the export of
meat products to the Argentine.
A further Memorandum, extending these provisions to meat and other foods of
animal origin, was issued by the Local Government Board in
One of the conditions agreed to is that traders in England and Wales who prepare
or pack foods of animal origin for export to Argentina, and who desire that such
exportation should be accompanied by an official attestation of precautions taken to
safeguard the wholesomeness of the foods in question, should apply to the Local
Government Board for the appointment of an official to act as " Certifying Officer,"
and the applicant must undertake to give all necessary facilities to this officer as regards
access, inspection, stamping, &c.
The duty of the "Certifying Officer" is to keep himself informed by personal
inquiry and other ways as to :—
(1) Structure and character of premises on which the foods are prepared,
stored, or packed (as the case may be), in regard to opportunities of objectionable
or unwholesome contamination of these foods at any stage of their preparation,
storage, or packing.
(2) Cleanliness and wholesomeness of methods employed in preparing, storing,
or packing the foods in question.
(3) Precautions taken to avoid the utilization for food purposes of diseased,
unsound, or unwholesome meat, or other material of animal origin in any portion
of the premises, and arrangements safely to dispose of any material which on
account of disease, unsoundness, unwholesomeness, or other reason, is unfit for
human food.
The Certificate issued by the Certifying Officer must state that the exporting
establishment is under the system of sanitary supervision prescribed by the
Memorandum under review.
If the information obtained by the Certifying Officer in regard to (1), (2), and (3)
is not satisfactory, certification is to be withheld, and information thereof forthwith
forwarded to the Board by the Certifying Officer, who will, as and when requested by
that Authority, give such information as may be required by them in regard to the
methods of inquiry, inspection, and certification which have been adopted.