Explanatory note

These Regulations are made using powers in the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 (asc 4) and provide for mandatory classification and price reporting of sheep carcasses by larger approved slaughterhouses.

Regulation 3 sets out the approved slaughterhouses to which these Regulations apply (“regulated slaughterhouses”), and regulation 4 provides that those slaughterhouses must give notice to the Welsh Ministers to that effect.

Regulation 5 and Schedule 1 stipulate the classification requirements which must be met by regulated slaughterhouses in respect of most of the carcasses which they process. Classification requirements are to be carried out at the time that the carcasses are being weighed as set out in regulation 10, once the carcasses have been allocated a kill number under regulation 8 and have been presented in accordance with regulation 7.

Regulation 9 requires that each classified carcass is to be labelled with the information set out in that regulation.

Regulations 11 and 12 set out all the information which must be recorded by regulated slaughterhouses for each carcass which is classified, and regulation 13 provides that the information contained in specified records must be communicated to the supplier of the animal from which the carcass was obtained.

Part 3 sets out a system of control of classification through licences and authorisations.

Part 4 and Schedule 2 set out the procedure by which the Welsh Ministers authorise the use of “automated” classification methods for use in regulated slaughterhouses.

Part 5 requires the operator of a slaughterhouse to ensure that market price information is reported to a person authorised by the Welsh Ministers.

Part 6 contains provisions which restrict how those who handle the market data provided by slaughterhouses can process and disclose that information.

Part 7 contains enforcement provisions. Regulations 25 and 26 give authorised officers powers of entry and associated powers to allow them to check for, and gather evidence of, breaches of these Regulations. Under regulations 27 and 28 compliance notices and monetary penalty notices may be served in respect of breaches identified, and an appeal mechanism to the First-tier Tribunal is put in place by regulation 29.

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ and is published on www.gov.wales.