Restriction on Pithing (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (S.S.I. No. 73 of 2001).

These Regulations, which extend to Scotland only, give effect to article 5 of Commission Decision 2000/418/EC. These Regulations: (a) prohibit the use of the technique known as "pithing" in the slaughter of bovine, ovine or caprine animals for sale for human or animal consumption (reg. 2(1)); (b) provide that all parts of the carcase (other than the hide) of an illegally pithed animal are deemed to be specified risk material for the purposes of the Specified Risk Material Order 1997 and the Specified Risk Material Regulations 1997, as amended in each case (reg. 3); (c) make a consequential amendment to the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 (reg. 4); (d) give a power of entry to persons appointed as inspectors by the relevant enforcement authority (reg. 5); (e) create offences and penalties (regs. 2(3), 6 and 7); and (f) specify who is to enforce them (reg. 8). To "pith" an animal is to lacerate, after stunning, its central nervous tissue by means of an elongated rod shaped instrument introduced into the cranial cavity.