Obligations of the official veterinarian and of the competent authority in the case of slaughter or death of equidae
Article 34
1. On the slaughter or death of the equine animal, the following measures shall be taken: (a) the transponder shall be protected from subsequent fraudulent use, notably by its recovery, destruction or disposal in situ; (b) the identification document shall be rendered invalid at least by tamper-proof stamping it ‘invalid’ on all pages or pinching a hole of appropriate diameter, not less than a standard hole puncher, through all pages; (c) with a reference to the equine animal's unique life number either: (i) the identification document shall be destroyed under official supervision at the slaughterhouse where the animal was slaughtered and an attestation shall be communicated to the issuing body, either directly or through the contact point referred to in Article 36(2), informing it on the date of slaughter of the animal at a slaughterhouse and on the date of destruction of the identification document; or (ii) the invalidated identification document shall be returned to the issuing body indicated either in point 11 of Part A of Section I of the identification document or in Part C of that Section, updated in accordance with Article 28(b), either directly or through the contact point referred to in Article 36(2), together with information on the date the animal was slaughtered or killed for disease control purposes. 2. The measures provided for in paragraph 1 shall be carried out by or under the supervision of: (a) the official veterinarian: (i) in the case of slaughter or killing for disease control purposes, in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 4(4)(a) of Directive 2009/156/EC; or (ii) following slaughter, in accordance with Article 7(3) of Directive 2009/156/EC; or (b) the competent authority defined in Article 3(10) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009, in the case of the disposal or processing of a carcass, which was accompanied by the identification document in accordance with national legislation referred to in Article 23(1) of the present Regulation, in: (i) an establishment approved in accordance with point (a) of Article 24(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009; or (ii) a low-capacity incineration plant referred to in point (a)(iii) of Chapter III of Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 142/2011. 3. Where, as required by paragraph 1(a) of this Article, the transponder cannot be recovered from the body of an equine animal slaughtered for human consumption, the official veterinarian shall declare the meat or the part of the meat containing the transponder unfit for human consumption in accordance with Chapter V(1)(n) of Section II of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004.