Article 3 Actions to be taken at the slaughterhouse in case of non-compliance or suspected non-compliance

If the official veterinarian performing official controls in a slaughterhouse or the official auxiliary performing certain tasks in the framework of these controls suspect or has evidence that animals have been subject to illegal treatment, the official veterinarian shall ensure that the following actions are taken:

If the illegal treatment is established, the competent authority shall order the operator to dispose the carcasses, meat, offal and by-products as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f1, without indemnity or compensation.

If the official veterinarian performing official controls in a slaughterhouse or the official auxiliary performing certain tasks in the framework of these controls suspects that the animals present in the slaughterhouse have been treated with an authorised veterinary medicinal product, but that the withdrawal period referred to in F1the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 has not been respected, the official veterinarian shall order that the concerned animals are separated from other batches of animals present or arriving at the slaughterhouse, under conditions to be established by the competent authority. The official veterinarian shall also:

• postpone the slaughter at the expense of the operator, until the withdrawal period has been respected, or;

• issue an order to slaughter the animals separately and, pending the outcome of an investigation, order for the carcases, meat, offal and by-products from the concerned animals, to be immediately identified and kept separated from other products of animal origin.

The slaughter may only be postponed temporarily, provided that the official veterinarian has verified that the F2... legislation on animal welfare is respected and that the concerned animals can be kept separated from the other animals.

When the slaughter is postponed in accordance with paragraph (3), the withdrawal period shall in no circumstances be shorter than:

• the withdrawal period provided for in the summary of products characteristics of the marketing authorisation for veterinary medicinal products;

• the withdrawal period established under the Regulation authorising the use of a certain pharmacologically active substance as a feed additive in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003.

• the withdrawal period prescribed by the veterinarian for uses in accordance F3with paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 to the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 or, if no withdrawal period is prescribed for such uses, the minimum withdrawal period laid down in F4that paragraph;

Following the postponement of the slaughter, the competent authority may take samples at the expense of the operator to verify compliance with the maximum residue limits once the animals have been slaughtered after the expiry of the withdrawal period.

If the official veterinarian performing official controls in a slaughterhouse or the official auxiliary performing certain tasks in the framework of these controls has evidence that the animals present in the slaughterhouse have been treated with an authorised veterinary medicinal product, but that the withdrawal period referred to in F5the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 has not been respected, the official veterinarian shall order that the concerned animals are separated from other batches of animals present or arriving at the slaughterhouse, under conditions to be established by the competent authority. The official veterinarian shall also:

• postpone the slaughter at the expense of the operator under the conditions laid down in the second subparagraph of Article 3(3) and in Article 3(4) until the withdrawal period has been respected, or;

• issue an order that the operator kills the animals separately. In this case the official veterinarian shall declare them unfit for human consumption, whilst taking all necessary precautions to safeguard animal and public health.

If the operator fails to take all necessary measures to comply with the orders of the official veterinarian or competent authority in accordance with Article 3(1), 3(2), 3(3), 3(4), 3(5) and 3(6) of this Regulation, the official veterinarian or the competent authority shall take measures having the same effect, at the expense of the operator.