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Fines for excessive carcase trimming were issued to one factory in 2020 by the Department of Agriculture.
Ballon Meats in Co Carlow was the only factory to be found in breach of carcase trimming specifications, with two carcases failing to meet the required standard.
When a factory is found to be in breach of these rules, an on-the-spot fine of €200 is applied. The Department said any compensation payments made to farmers were a matter between the factory and the farmer.
In total, the Department’s carcase classification division conducted over 400 inspections across 32 factories during 2020. There were 36,000 carcases inspected.
Since 2018, monitoring of carcase presentation has also been carried out daily by the Department’s veterinary staff based in factories. The number of inspections is down on 2019, when 580 inspections were carried out on 50,000 carcases.
These inspections found one factory in breach of carcase trimming rules on three carcases.
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