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Beef Cattle Marketing Act
Loi sur la commercialisation des bovins de boucherie

R.R.O. 1990, REGULATION 55

WEIGHING OF CARCASSES

Historical version for the period June 1, 2005 to July 15, 2009.

Last amendment: O. Reg. 231/05.

This Regulation is made in English only.

1. In this Regulation,

“beef carcass” means the entire carcass of a head of cattle except,

(a) the hide, that part of the head and neck forward of the first cervical vertebra, that part of the fore-shank below the knee joint, that part of the hind-shank below the hock joint, the respiratory, digestive, reproductive and urinary systems, the thoracic and abdominal organs, the membranous portion and pillar of the diaphragm, spinal cord, kidney fat, pelvic fat, heart fat and scrotal or udder fat, and the tail posterior to the first coccygeal vertebra,

(b) any part of the carcass the removal of which is required for pathological reasons under the Meat Inspection Act (Canada) the regulations made under that Act or Ontario Regulation 31/05 (Meat) made under the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001;

“carcass” means beef carcass or veal carcass;

“graded” means graded under the Farm Products Grades and Sales Act or the Canada Agricultural Products Act;

“grader” means a person appointed under the Farm Products Grades and Sales Act or the Canada Agricultural Products Act for the purpose of grading beef carcasses;

“head of cattle” means a head of beef cattle or a veal calf that has been sold by the producer thereof to an operator for a price calculated on the basis of the weight of the carcass thereof;

“operator” means a person operating a plant and includes the person’s agent or employee;

“sale weight” means the hot weight of a beef carcass less any tare in respect thereof;

“tare” means an allowance for the weight of materials and equipment that are weighed with the beef carcass but do not form part thereof;

“veal carcass” means the entire carcass of a head of cattle which has a carcass weight of less than 363.4 pounds or 165 kilograms with the hide on or less than 330.4 pounds or 150 kilograms with the hide off except,

(a) that part of the head and neck forward of the first cervical joint, that part of the fore-shank below the knee joint, that part of the hind-shank below the hock joint, the respiratory, digestive, reproductive and urinary systems and the thoracic and abdominal organs except the kidneys, and

(b) any part of the carcass the removal of which is required for pathological reasons under the Meat Inspection Act (Canada) the regulations made under that Act or Ontario Regulation 31/05 (Meat) made under the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 1; O. Reg. 38/94, s. 1; O. Reg. 231/05, s. 1.

2. (1) Where a carcass is weighed to determine its sale weight, the operator shall weigh the entire carcass without removing any portion thereof. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 2 (1).

(2) Every operator of a plant in which carcasses are weighed for settlement on the basis of carcass weight shall,

(a) equip the plant with a scale capable of weighing carcasses to the nearest pound or 0.5 kilogram; and

(b) maintain every scale used for the weighing of such carcasses in sound working condition. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 2 (2).

(3) Every operator of a plant in which a yearly average of fifty or more carcasses per week are weighed for settlement on the basis of carcass weight and grade shall equip the plant with rail scales having an automatic printing device and shall retain the scale tickets from the scales for at least thirty days. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 2 (3).

3. (1) No operator shall deduct any allowance in respect of shrinkage or any tare in calculating the sale weight of a carcass other than a tare respecting materials and equipment used for carrying or supporting the carcass while it is being weighed. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 3 (1).

(2) Where a tare is deducted from the weight of a carcass, the operator shall not, in respect of the carcass, deduct a total tare that exceeds the plant standard declared by the operator under clause 7 (f). R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 3 (2).

4. An operator shall weigh a carcass to determine its sale weight to the nearest pound or 0.5 kilogram before the carcass is placed in a cooler and record the weight on a weight sheet in a form approved by the Commissioner. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 4.

5. (1) Subject to subsection (4), every operator of a plant in which a carcass is weighed or graded shall deliver to the person from whom the operator purchased the head of cattle a copy of the grading certificate issued under the Farm Products Grades and Sales Act or the Canada Agricultural Products Act. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 5 (1).

(2) Every operator of a plant shall designate one or more persons, satisfactory to an inspector assigned to the plant, to be scale operators for the plant. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 5 (2).

(3) After the weighing of each lot of carcasses, the scale operator shall, upon the request of an inspector or otherwise at the next interruption of the kill, provide an inspector who has been designated by the Minister to supervise weights,

(a) with a signed copy of the weight sheet; and

(b) where rail scales having an automatic printing device were used, with the scale ticket,

upon which the weight of each carcass is recorded. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 5 (3).

(4) This section does not apply where the carcass that was weighed or graded was sold to the operator on the basis of its live weight. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 5 (4).

6. Every inspector who has been designated by the Minister to supervise weights shall, with respect to the plant to which the inspector is assigned,

(a) check the accuracy of the weighing mechanism and the accuracy of the tare adjustment at least twice each day on days when carcasses are weighed for settlement on the basis of carcass weight;

(b) check every scale used for the weighing of carcasses at least daily, on days when carcasses are weighed for settlement on the basis of carcass weight to verify whether or not the scale is maintained in sound working order;

(c) check the weight of items comprising the tare allowance on a random basis in order to verify whether or not,

(i) there is uniformity of tare for all carcasses, and

(ii) the operator of the plant is conforming, within plus or minus one-half pound or, where the plant is using metric weights within plus or minus 225 grams, to the plant standard referred to in clause 7 (f);

(d) mark and set aside any tare items that in the inspector’s opinion do not comply with clause 7 (f) and, where he or she is satisfied such tare items subsequently comply, release the tare items for use in the plant;

(e) post a notice on every scale, signed by himself or herself, indicating the plant standard tare weight;

(f) report any malfunction of scales or any other irregularity affecting weight or sale price to the Commissioner within twenty-four hours;

(g) submit to the Commissioner reports on tare weights after each inspection of tare items and a log of scale inspection reports on forms provided by the Commissioner;

(h) promptly advise the operator of any action necessary to achieve compliance with the Act or this Regulation;

(i) record on the log of scale inspection a record of action taken by an operator to achieve compliance with the Act or this Regulation and conduct such inspection as is necessary to confirm the efficacy of such action;

(j) order the operator to reweigh any carcasses that, in the inspector’s opinion, may not have been weighed or recorded properly; and

(k) prior to grading, provide to the grader assigned to the plant, the weight sheet referred to in subsection 5 (3) and the manifest referred to in clause 7 (g). R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 6.

7. An operator shall,

(a) subject to clause (b), supply, for the use of inspectors, adequate test weights for checking scales and arrange for annual certification of such weights under the Weights and Measures Act (Canada);

(b) in the case of an operator slaughtering fewer than 50 cattle per week and where the Commissioner has given his or her approval in writing, in lieu of supplying the test weights referred to in clause (a), maintain and use a scale in determining sale weight that is certified annually under the Weights and Measures Act (Canada);

(c) supply for the use of inspectors in weighing tare items a suitable small scale certified under the Weights and Measures Act (Canada);

(d) provide all necessary assistance in handling weights to an inspector performing his or her duties under section 6;

(e) provide adequate storage for weights supplied under clause (a) and maintain the weights in a clean condition;

(f) establish and declare to the inspector a plant standard for tare deduction and conform to such standard within plus or minus one-half pound per carcass, or where the plant is using metric weights, within plus or minus 225 grams per carcass; and

(g) provide, prior to slaughter, to the inspector designated to supervise weights, a manifest indicating the name and address of the person from whom the operator purchased the animals, the number and sex of the animals and identification to be used to identify the lot of animals and carcasses. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 55, s. 7.