Article 1

The United Kingdom competent authority shall be authorised to purchase any bovine animal born or reared within the United Kingdom before 1 August 1996 , which does not show any clinical sign of BSE, presented to it by any producer or his agent, which was, during a period of at least six months prior to its sale, present on a holding located on the territory of the United Kingdom.

The animals referred to in paragraph 1 shall be killed in specially designated slaughterhouses, the heads, internal organs and carcases shall be permanently stained. The stained material shall be transported in sealed containers to specially authorized incineration or rendering plants, where it shall be processed and then destroyed. No part of the abovementioned animals may enter into the human food or animal feed chains or be used for cosmetic or pharmaceutical products. A representative of the United Kingdom competent authority shall be permanently present in the slaughterhouse referred to above in order to supervise the operations in question.

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph:

• the United Kingdom competent authority may allow the on-farm slaughter of an animal where existing animal welfare practice would require this,

• the hides of the animals referred to in paragraph 1 do not have to be stained or destroyed provided that they have been treated in such a way that they can only be used for leather production.

The slaughterhouses referred to in paragraph 2 shall be organized and operated in such a way as to ensure that:

• no bovine animal, the product from the slaughter of which is intended for human or animal consumption, is present in the slaughterhouse when animals are being slaughtered under this scheme,

• where it is necessary for bovine animals to be slaughtered under the scheme to be held in lairage, they shall be kept separate from bovine animals which it is intended to slaughter for human or animal consumption, and

• where it is necessary for products derived from animals slaughtered under this scheme to be stored, such storage shall be separate from any storage facility used for meat or other products destined for human or animal consumption.

The United Kingdom competent authority shall:

• carry out the necessary administrative checks and effective on-the-spot supervision of the operations referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3, and

• control those operations on the basis of frequent and unannounced inspections, in particular to verify that all stained material has been effectively destroyed;

The results of these checks and controls shall be made available to the Commission on request.

If the number of animals presented for sale and subsequent destruction exceeds the number for which there is capacity to destroy in the United Kingdom, the competent authority may limit access to this scheme.

Notwithstanding paragraph 1 and subject to the necessary control, the United Kingdom competent authority shall be authorized, before processing and destruction, to use a limited number of animals for research or educational purposes.