Laws of the Guangdong Province

Regulations of the Shenzhen Municipality on the Administration of the Slaughter, Quarantine and Inspection of Livestock and Poultry

(Adopted at the 29^th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Third Shenzhen Municipal People' s Congress on December 24, 2003, approved at the 10the Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth Guangdong Provincial People' s Congress on March 30, 2004, promulgated on April 28, 2004, validated from July 1, 2004)

Chapter I General Provisions

       Article 1 In order to strengthen the administration of the slaughter, quarantine and inspection of livestock and poultry, to prevent the spread of infectious disease of livestock and poultry, to reduce the harm to human beings caused by the detriments in products of livestock and poultry, and to guarantee human health and safety of lives, these regulations are hereby formulated in accordance with the related laws, regulations of the state and in the light of the practical conditions of the Shenzhen City.

       Article 2 These regulations shall apply to the slaughter, quarantine and inspection within the administrative region of this Municipality.

       The quarantine and inspection of imported and exported livestock and poultry and their products, and the hygienic inspection of livestock and poultry shall be carried out according to the related laws, regulations of the state.

       Article 3 The livestock referred to in these regulations shall mean pig, cattle, sheep and other domestic livestock; the poultry shall mean chicken, duck, goose and other domestic poultry; the products of livestock and poultry shall mean unprocessed meat, offal, bones, heads, trotters, blood, and skin, etc. The quarantine referred to in these regulations shall mean the tests conducted according to law to see if livestock, poultry, and their products are contaminated by or carrying the quarantine objects; the inspection referred to in these regulations shall mean the tests to see if livestock, poultry, and their products contain hydrochloric clenbuterol (commonly known as lean meat essence) and other harmful components. The other harmful components referred to in these regulations shall mean the veterinary medicine and other substance prohibited by the state rules from use for food animals.

       Article 4 The municipal, district administrative departments of agriculture (hereinafter referred to as the municipal, district departments of agriculture) shall be in charge of the quarantine and inspection of livestock and poultry within their respective administrative regions; the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall be responsible for quarantine and inspection of livestock and poultry and supervision as well.

       The municipal, district administrative departments of commodity circulation (hereinafter referred to as the municipal, district departments of commodity circulation) shall be responsible for the administration of the trade of slaughter and process of livestock and poultry and the formulation of a trade development plan, operation rules and technological requirements. The municipal, district departments of industrial and commercial administration (hereinafter referred to as the municipal, district departments of industry and commerce) shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of process and sale of livestock, poultry and their products within markets. The municipal, district departments of urban administration shall be responsible for the investigation and punishment of the acts to set up a slaughterhouse (slaughter place) without authorization and to slaughter livestock and poultry illegally. The municipal, district departments of public security, planning, land resources and real estate administration, environmental protection, health, etc., shall engage in the well-conducted administration of slaughter, quarantine and inspection of livestock and poultry. Various subdistrict offices, neighborhood committees shall cooperate with the related departments in the administration of slaughter, quarantine and inspection of livestock and poultry.

       Article 5 Livestock slaughter shall be done at designated places, quarantine and inspection shall be carried out in batches, and the principle of separation of slaughter, quarantine and inspection, distribution from each other shall be followed.

Chapter II Slaughter of Livestock

       Article 6 Setting up a livestock slaughterhouse shall be unitarily planned and arranged by the Municipal People' s Government. The specific sites of slaughterhouses shall be designated by the Municipal People' s Government through coordination between the departments of commodity circulation, planning and land resources, agriculture, environmental protection, and other related departments, according to the principle of promoting production, facilitating circulation, offering conveniences to masses, and being easy for quarantine and inspection, and for administration as well.

       Anyone who applies for setting up a slaughterhouse shall file a written application to the municipal department of commodity circulation, and the municipal department of commodity circulation shall give a written reply in 30 days.

       Article 7 It shall be prohibited for any unit and individual to set up a livestock slaughterhouse (slaughter place) without authorization and to illegally slaughter livestock.

       It shall be prohibited for any unit and individual to provide a site, water and electricity for others to set up a livestock slaughterhouse (slaughter place) without authorization and to illegally slaughter livestock.

       Article 8 Any slaughterhouse shall satisfy the following requirements:

(1)   the site selection and construction meet the requirements for urban planning, environmental protection, and epidemic prevention;

(2)   the structure and layout of the slaughterhouse are appropriate, the technological process of slaughter meets the requirements for slaughter, quarantine and inspection; there are key facilities, which are suitable to the scale of slaughter operation, such as a waiting room for slaughter, a slaughter room, and an isolation room for sick livestock, an urgent slaughter room, and a workshop for meat pre-freezing, etc. The above-mentioned facilities should be well lighted and well ventilated. The walls, operation tables of the slaughter room, urgent slaughter room and workshop for meat pre-freezing should be covered by white, smooth construction materials which make them easy to be cleaned;

(3)   the source of water supply is adequate, and the quality of water meets the national standards of drinking water;

(4)   there are facilities for neutralizing treatment and disposal of wastes and waste water;

(5)   there is a well-established system of health and sterilization management;

(6)   the means of delivery and containers should meet the requirements for health and epidemic prevention;

(7)   the employees to engage in livestock slaughter should be healthy and have health certificates.

Article 9 After the construction of a livestock slaughterhouse is completed, the

municipal department of commodity circulation shall, jointly with the municipal departments of agriculture, construction, environmental protection, health, etc., process a check-and-acceptance. If the livestock slaughterhouse is accepted, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall issue Certificate for Qualified Animal Epidemic Prevention.

       Without Certificate for Qualified Animal Epidemic Prevention, any livestock slaughterhouse shall not start business or be put into use for production.

       Article 10 Livestock slaughterhouses shall be put under a classified system of administration. The specific measures shall be formulated by the Municipal People' s Government separately.

       Article 11 Livestock slaughter shall meet the following requirements:

(1)   before and after blood-letting, the body surface of livestock shall be washed, and blood clots and the filth shall be cleaned up;

(2)   keeping the water used for slaughter clean and hygienic, the water pool to scald hair should change water at regular time, the cold water pool shall keep water running all the time;

(3)   it is forbidden to allow livestock to touch the ground throughout the process of slaughter, trunks after slaughtering should be hanged in a place which is well ventilated, shady and cool, and clean, and should not be polluted by anything toxic, harmful, odorous;

(4)   trunks and offal should not have blood, hair, dung, dirt, bruise, focus of infection, harmful glands;

(5)   the vehicles, tools and packing bags used for shipping, loading and unloading, packing livestock products should meet the hygienic standards set by the state.

Article 12 It shall be prohibited to slaughter healthy livestock and sick livestock

together. Sick livestock shall be dealt with according to the nature of epidemic disease and the related state rules; if human beings and livestock are found to suffer from the same serious epidemic disease, it should be reported to the municipal,district departments of agriculture and the administrative departments of health within 24 hours, and dealt with according to the related state rules.

       Article 13 It shall be prohibited to slaughter and throw aside dead livestock anywhere at will.

       Article 14 It shall be prohibited to purchase, sell and slaughter the livestock containing hydrochloric clenbuterol and other harmful components.

Chapter III Quarantine and Inspection of Livestock

       Article 15 The municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall do sample tests of the livestock waiting for slaughter in slaughterhouses and the livestock products sold in the markets for hydrochloric clenbuterol and other harmful components. In case of failure to pass the tests for hydrochloric clenbuterol and other harmful components, the municipal department of agriculture shall promptly notify the related departments and purchasers of the place of production of this livestock, and the purchase of livestock from the administrative region of the county where the place of production of this livestock is located shall be stopped within 90 days from the date of notification.

       Article 16 The municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall strictly follow the related state rules by sending animal quarantine officers to the site of slaughter to do quarantine and inspection of slaughter. If trunks are accepted according to quarantine and inspection, the supervision agency of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall stamp them with a seal of being checked, mark the bar code of quarantine and inspection, and issue a certificate of acceptance of livestock products based on quarantine; in case of failure to be accepted according to quarantine and inspection, the livestock and livestock products of the sample batch shall be sealed up and destroyed.

       Article 17 The design of the bar coded of quarantine and inspection and the measures of the bar code' s administration shall be formulated specifically by the municipal department of agriculture.

       Article 18 Animal quarantine officers shall have corresponding professional knowledge, obtain the certificates of quarantine officers unitarily issued by the provincial department of agriculture after unified examination, and take up their jobs as certificate holders.

       Animal quarantine officers shall execute their duties according to the related state rules.

       Article 19 The fees for livestock slaughter quarantine shall be collected according to the related state rules. All these collected quarantine fees shall be turned over to the department of finance, any unit and individual shall not hold back, partition without authorization, and misappropriate these fees.

       Article 20 As for the tests of slaughtered livestock for hydrochloric clenbuterol and other harmful components, the charge for monitoring and testing shall be entered into the annual budget of a department.

       Article 21 When livestock products go on the market, the valid seal of being checked, the certificate of acceptance of livestock products according to quarantine, and the bar code of quarantine and inspection shall be provided; if livestock products have not been quarantined and inspected or failed to be accepted in such quarantine and inspection, they shall not be processed and sold.

       When livestock products are imported from outside this city, it shall be reported to the municipal supervision agency of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine for examination, and put under supervision as well. The specific measures on reporting for examination shall be formulated by the municipal department of agriculture separately. Any unit and individual shall not fill the accepted livestock and its products with mud, sand, water, and other materials after quarantine and inspection.

Chapter IV Slaughter, Quarantine and Inspection of Poultry

       Article 22 The planning and construction of a poultry slaughterhouse shall comply with Articles 6, 9 of these regulations.

       Article 23 Poultry slaughterhouses shall meet the following requirements: (1) the site selection and construction should satisfy the requirements of environmental protection and epidemic prevention; (2) there should be a slaughter room suitable to the scale of slaughter operation, and this room should be clean, well lighted, and well ventilated; (3) the source of water should be adequate, and the quality of water should meet the national standards of drinking water; (4) there should be slaughter tools and containers which meet the requirements for hygiene and quarantine; (5) there should be a well-established system to manage hygiene and sterilization.

       Article 24 When poultry is put in a slaughterhouse (a slaughter place), a quarantine certificate issued by a supervision agency of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine of the place of the poultry production at a county level or higher level shall be provided.

       Article 25 It shall be prohibited to slaughter dead poultry and sick poultry. Dead and sick poultry shall be dealt with according to the related state rules.

       Article 26 Any unit and individual shall not fill slaughtered poultry and its products with mud, sand, water, and other materials.

       Article 27 If there is a case to which no stipulation in this chapter can apply, it shall be dealt with by reference to the related rules in Chapters II, III of these regulations.

Chapter V Legal Liabilities

       Article 28 In case of violation of Article 6, the first section of Article 7, and Article 9 of these regulations by setting up a livestock slaughterhouse (a slaughter place) without authorization and slaughtering livestock illegally, the municipal, district departments of industrial and commercial administration shall confiscate illegal livestock, livestock products, slaughter tools, and destroy them according to law, dismantle illegal slaughter facilities, and impose a fine of more than one time but less than three times of the turnover of illegal slaughter operation.

       In case of violation of Article 22 of these regulations by setting up a poultry slaughterhouse without authorization and slaughter poultry illegally, it shall be punished according to the previous section.

       Article 29 If a livestock slaughterhouse violates Article 8 of these regulations by failing to meet the requirements, the municipal department of commodity circulation shall order rectification within a deadline; if the slaughterhouse still cannot meet the requirements after rectification, it shall be suggested that the office which did the original examination and approval disqualify this slaughterhouse. If a poultry slaughterhouse violates Article 23 of these regulations by to failing to meet the requirements, the municipal, district departments of industrial and commercial administration shall order rectification; if the place still cannot meet the requirements after rectification, it shall be ordered to stop business.

       Article 30 In violation of Article 11 of these regulations by failure to meet the requirements for livestock slaughter, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall issue a warning to the livestock slaughterhouse and order correction by a deadline; if correction has not been done after the deadline, a fine of more than 2,000 but less than 5,000 RMB shall be imposed.

       Article 31 In case of violation of Article 12 of these regulations by slaughtering healthy and sick livestock together, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall confiscate livestock, its products, and illegal earnings,  and may impose a fine of more than 3 times but less than 5 times of illegal earnings as well.

       In case of violation of Article 12 of these regulations by failing to report a serious epidemic disease, failing to report its true state, or obstructing others from reporting, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall impose a fine of more than 3,000 but less than 5,000 RMB.

       Article 32 In case of violation of Article 13 of these regulations by slaughtering dead livestock, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall confiscate dead livestock, its products and illegal earnings, if the circumstances are serious, a fine of more than 3 times but less than 5 times of illegal earnings may be imposed as well; if dead livestock is not thrown aside according to the rules, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall give a warning; if correction is rejected, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall handle the disposal instead according to law and the resultant cost of disposal shall be born by law-breaking actors.

       Article 33 In case of violation of Article 14 of these regulations by purchasing or slaughtering the livestock containing hydrochloric clenbuterol and other harmful components, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall confiscate and destroy the livestock and its products, a fine of 5 times of the turnover of illegal operation shall be imposed on those purchasers and slaughterhouses who know or should know that the livestock contains hydrochloric clenbuterol and other harmful components and still purchase or slaughter the livestock; if a crime is constituted, the criminal responsibility shall be investigated into according to law.

       Article 34 In case of violation of the second section of Article 16 of these regulations by unsealing, removing, and selling without authorization the sealed livestock and its products containing hydrochloric clenbuterol and other harmful components, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall impose a fine of more than 10,000 but less than 20,000 RMB; if a crime is constituted, the criminal responsibility shall be investigated into according to law.

       Article 35 In case of violation of the first section of Article 21 of these regulations by processing and selling the livestock products which have not been quarantined and inspected or have failed to pass the quarantine and inspection, the municipal, district departments of industrial and commercial administration or the municipal, district supervision of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall order to stop illegal acts, confiscate the illegal livestock products and illegal earnings, and may impose a fine of more than 3 times but less than 5 times of illegal earnings; if the circumstances are serious, the departments of industrial and commercial administration shall order to stop business. The acts of sale of livestock, poultry and their products in a site of illegal operation outside the market shall be investigated and punished by the departments of urban management. In case of violation of the third section of Article 21 and Article 26 of these regulations by filling livestock, poultry and their products with mud, sand, water and other materials, the municipal, district departments of industrial and commercial administration shall give a warning, confiscate livestock, poultry and illegal earnings, and impose a fine of 5 times of the turnover of illegal operation.

      Article 36 In case of violation of Article 24 of these regulations by slaughtering the poultry without quarantine certificate, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall impose a fine of more than 2,000 but less than 5,000 RMB.

       Article 37 In case of violation of Article 25 of these regulations by slaughtering dead and sick poultry, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall confiscate dead and sick poultry, its products, and illegal earnings, if the circumstances are serious, a fine of more than 3 time but less than 5 times of illegal earnings may be imposed; if the disposal of dead and sick poultry is not done according to the state rules, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall give a warning; if correction is rejected, the municipal, district supervision agencies of animal epidemic prevention and quarantine shall handle the disposal instead according to law, and the resultant cost of disposal shall be born by law-breaking actors.

       Article 38 In case of resort to violence to obstruct the related departments in execution of duties according to these regulations, the departments of public security shall punish according to law; if a crime is constituted, the criminal responsibility shall be investigated into according to law.

       Article 39 If the administrative departments do not execute duties according to these regulations, administrative sanctions shall be imposed on directly responsible person in charge and directly responsible persons according to law.

       If the administrative law enforcement personnel neglect duties, practice favoritism and engage in irregularities, the related municipal, district administrative departments shall impose administrative sanctions according to law; if a crime is constituted, the criminal responsibility shall be investigated into according to law.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

       Article 40 If the state has other rules on the slaughter of food livestock and poultry for ethnic minorities, these rules shall be honored.