VOSA has recently issued an advice note about the interpretation of an for exemption from the EU drivers’ hours rules relating to “vehicles used for carrying animal waste or carcasses which are not intended for human consumption”.
Some operators have claimed the exemption covers operations carrying products derived from meat processing. The DfT’s view is that it applies to “vehicles transporting animal waste/carcasses from abattoirs” and not “vehicles carrying any animal derived products”.
Although the term “animal waste or carcasses” is not defined in either Regulation (EC) 561/2006 or our domestic legislation, the DfT has considered definitions in other relevant EC legislation, together with relevant case law.
The DfT has concluded that “animal waste” refers:
- to parts of an animal that are discarded, or are intended or required to be discarded,
and that “carcass” refers to
- the body of a dead animal.
Therefore in DfT’s view the derogation does not extend to:
(a) vehicles transporting animal “derived products” which although originally animal waste and carcasses not fit for human consumption, have been processed to make a product. This would include products such as meat and bone meal, tallow etc.
(b) waste from supermarkets/shops/fast food outlets such as, for example, meat or dairy which has gone past its ‘sell – by date’, waste from a subsequent butchery process, or oil which has been used to cook meat.
For driver’s hours advice, or for any other transport advice, contact Jared Dunbar at Dyne Solicitors on 01829 773 100