Specific rules on hygiene for food of animal origin

This section is concerned mainly with meat from domestic animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine and caprine species, as well as horsemeat.

In order to limit as far as possible any meat contamination, specific hygiene rules cover the following:

• Cutting and boning operations in cutting plants
• Control of health marking of meat by an official veterinarian
• Storage, transport and maturation of meat (temperature at which it is kept)

The following provisions apply to meat of farmed birds and of rabbits, hares and rodents, as well as ratites (flightless birds).

Specific hygiene rules have been introduced aimed at minimizing risks of meat contamination. They concern the following:

• Construction, design and equipping of cutting plants
• Cutting and boning work

Meat of farmed game coming from even-toed mammals (Cervidae and Suidae) must be produced and marketed under the conditions laid down for meat of domestic ungulates (see above).

The provisions relating to poultry meat apply to the production and marketing of meat from ratites (flightless birds) (see above).

Specific provisions have been laid down such that wild game meat cannot enter Monaco without first having been processed in a particular way and having been checked by the Department of Health Affairs in the territory where the game was killed.

The production and marketing of minced meat intended for the processing industry (see below: meat products) is subject to the requirements for fresh meat.

Specific hygiene rules cover the following:

• Equipping and approval of production establishments
• Raw materials used (or prohibited) in the production of minced meat
• Production, conservation and use of minced meat, meat preparations obtained from minced meat, and mechanically separated meat (MSM)
• Product labelling

There are hygiene standards specific to meat products. Depending on the type of animal, they cover the raw materials which may not be used in the manufacture of meat products.

The following rules also apply to live echinoderms, tunicates and marine gastropods.

Live bivalve molluscs harvested from the wild and intended for human consumption must comply with high health standards:

• Health standards applicable to live bivalve molluscs: freshness and viability; microbiological criteria, evaluation of the presence of marine biotoxins and harmful substances in relation to the permissible daily intake
• Health marking, wrapping, labelling, storage and transport of live bivalve molluscs
• The rules applicable to pectinides harvested outside classified areas

Fishery products caught in their natural environment may have to be handled for bleeding, heading, gutting and the removal of fins. They are then chilled, frozen or processed and/or wrapped/packaged on board vessels in accordance with the rules laid down in the section on fishery products.

Specific hygiene requirements cover the following:

• Equipment and facilities on fishing vessels: areas for receiving products taken on board, work and storage areas, refrigeration installations, pumping of waste and disinfection
• Hygiene on board fishing vessels: cleanliness, protection from any form of contamination, washing with water and cold treatment
• Conditions of hygiene during and after the landing of fishery products: protection against any form of contamination, equipment used
• Fresh and frozen products, endo-parasites harmful to human health (visual examination), and cooked crustaceans and molluscs
• Processed fishery products
• Health standards applicable to fishery products: evaluation of the presence of substances and toxins harmful to human health
• Wrapping, packaging, storage and transport of fishery products

Until sale to the consumer, eggs must be kept clean, dry, protected from shocks and direct sunlight, stored and transported at an optimal temperature for conservation. They must be delivered to consumers within 21 days of laying.

In addition to the storage requirements for these products, specific hygiene rules govern the production and placing on the market of treated stomachs, bladders and intestines, as regards the animals they come from and the establishments where they are treated.

Only products which have been cleaned and scraped, then salted, heated or dried, and treated to avoid any new contamination, are suitable for human consumption. There are also rules on conservation, in particular the temperature of products that are not salted or dried.