Schedule 4 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Part IV of Schedule 4 sets the hygiene rules for food businesses in meat and meat products. Its first section, A, covers the slaughter house: local NOC, location, premises, sanitary practices, equipment, personnel hygiene, animal welfare, transport of animals to the slaughter house, stunning, and ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection. This article is based on the 2017 compendium (Version II, 09.11.2017); later amendments may have changed it, verify on fssai.gov.in. For licensing of a large meat business, see our Central FSSAI licence service.
Part IV-A applies to an FBO that slaughters large animals, small animals including sheep and goat, or poultry birds within the premises of his factory for meat or meat products supplied to the public. A No Objection Certificate from the local authority is needed before the licence is granted. The slaughter house needs separate areas, a continuous forward movement from live animal to meat with no reversal or overlap, impervious floors, hygiene routines, pre-slaughter rest and ante-mortem inspection, mandatory stunning and post-mortem inspection by a Qualified Veterinary Doctor. As per the 2017 compendium.
Who falls under Part IV-A
An FBO which slaughters animals or birds inside its factory premises to produce meat or meat products for supply, sale or distribution to the public. Schedule 1 of the Regulations, as in the 2017 compendium, lists slaughter houses above a stated daily number of animals or birds among the businesses licensed by the Central Licensing Authority; all others go to the State or UT authority. See Regulation 2.1.2. Where the premises fall under Part IV, the meat rules add to the general rules in Part II. Standards for meat as a product are separate; for background see Meat and poultry standards under FSSAI.
General, location and premises (paragraphs 1 to 3)
| Para | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 1.1 | No Objection Certificate from the local authority before grant of licence |
| 2 | Linked to a meat market away from vegetable, fish or other food markets; without odour, smoke, dust or contaminants; elevated level in a sanitary place |
| 3.1 | Reception area or holding yard, resting yard, lairage, slaughter hall, side halls for hide, paunch and offal collection, holding room for suspected or condemned carcass, by-product harvesting and cold room |
| 3.2 | Separate provision for different species (cattle and buffalo, pigs, sheep and goat) and different methods of slaughter (the text names Halal, Jewish and Jhatka); thorough cleaning after every type of operation |
| 3.3 | Clean and dirty sections separated; continuous forward movement from live animal to meat fit for consumption, with no reversal, intersection or overlapping |
| 3.4 | Reception yard with watering and examination facilities; isolation pens for suspected infectious animals; notifiable disease reported by the designated Veterinary Authority; overhead shelter for resting yard (not mandatory for registration category) |
| 3.6 | Separate space for stunning, blood collection and dressing; no slaughter in sight of other animals; carcass not dressed on the floor; hoists to hang the carcass before evisceration |
| 3.7, 3.8 | Impervious, non-slippery floors; walls paved with impervious glazed tiles to a stated height; walls and floors epoxy coated |
| 3.15 to 3.17 | Blood drains underground with easy cleaning or a portable lidded receptacle, with traps and screens; edible and inedible rooms separate; hides and skins stored in a separate room with a separate exit |
| 3.18 | Constant supply of clean potable cold water with pressure hose pipes, plus hot water, in the slaughter hall |
| 3.23 | Dressed meat held, if not immediately processed, in a room at 0 degrees C to 2 degrees C |
| 3.24, 3.25 | Waste processed into by-products or dumped in covered pits; effluent treatment plant for large houses; composting for small ones; rendering for large ones |
| 3.26 to 3.28 | Isolation facilities for meat needing examination; a laboratory with a qualified chemist or analyst and a Veterinary Microbiologist, approved by the licensing authority after inspection |
| 3.29 | Lighting of not less than 540 Lux at inspection points, 220 Lux in work rooms and 110 Lux elsewhere; protected fittings over meat |
One source note: paragraph 3.8 gives a wall tile height "up to 1 meter ... in case of poultry and small ruminant animals and 5 meter height in case of large ruminant animals". The 5 metre figure looks unusual, and the text may contain an error, so check the authority's current requirement.
Sanitary practices, equipment and personnel (paragraphs 4 to 6)
- Periodic lime wash: internal surfaces washed with hot lime wash within the first 10 days of March, June, September and December (4.1). Surfaces soiled by blood or refuse are cleaned, washed, dried and disinfected within three hours after slaughter (4.1).
- Clearing waste: blood, manure, garbage, hide, fat, viscera and offal removed within 8 hours after slaughter (4.06).
- Pest and animal control: no poisons where unpacked product is stored or handled; dogs, cats and birds kept out; covered wire netting in open areas (4.9, 4.10).
- Water: potable, with arrangements if bore well water is used; tested at a recognised laboratory if the licensing authority requires (4.11).
- Warm meat for immediate sale may be transported in clean, insulated, covered containers without cooling (4.12).
- Equipment: cleanable, corrosion-resistant; no iron or galvanised iron in contact with meat food products; copper or brass heavily lined (5.1, 5.2). Knives and sharpeners of stainless steel only (3.21).
- Personnel: no infectious or contagious persons; medical examination at intervals decided by the licensing authority; staff inoculated against enteric diseases and all workers in an epidemic; clean aprons and head wear (6.1 to 6.4).
Animal welfare and transport of animals
The text states animals must be reared, handled, transported and slaughtered using humane practices. Transport rules include: only healthy animals certified by a qualified veterinary inspector as not having infectious or ecto-parasitic diseases and as fit to travel (except emergency slaughter); quarantine for 30 days after protective vaccination when moving from endemic to non-endemic areas; no advanced-pregnancy females; animals not bound or chained and given space to stand or lie; an attendant with first aid; light and heavy animals partitioned, males not with adult females; vehicles inspected, disinfected and sand-lined (not less than 6 cm); no striking with a stick when loading; labels showing number and kind of animals, consignor, consignee and feeding instructions. Loading avoids temperature extremes, with cleated ramps. Overcrowding is avoided, truck speed must not exceed 40 kilometres per hour, no other merchandise loaded, and journeys exceeding 12 hours go by railway.
Stunning
The text says stunning before slaughter should be mandatory. It describes mechanical stunning of cattle (captive bolt, mushroom head percussive, pneumatic percussive), electrical stunning (head stunners for sheep and goats; water bath for poultry) and gas stunning for pigs with carbon dioxide at 90 per cent by volume and not less than 80 per cent, ideally for 3 minutes. Minimum currents for head-only stunning include 1.5 amps for cattle, 1.0 for calves, 1.25 for pigs, 1.0 for sheep and goats, 0.7 for lambs, 100 milliamps for broilers and 150 milliamps for turkeys. Poultry suppliers and processors need a documented welfare programme covering catching, transport, holding and stunning.
Ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection
- Ante-mortem (paragraph 7): all animals rested and examined well before slaughter; animals unfit marked "suspect" by or under the Qualified Veterinary Doctor and kept separate; those showing disease that would cause condemnation marked "condemned"; no febrile animal slaughtered; suspects slaughtered last; condemned animals never taken into edible-product departments.
- Post-mortem (paragraph 8): careful, detailed inspection soon after slaughter of carcasses, viscera, lymph glands, organs and glands; carcasses held under the Qualified Veterinary Doctor and marked "Inspected and passed", "Held" or "Inspected and condemned"; anthrax-affected carcasses condemned without evisceration; condemned material destroyed by incineration or denaturing under the direct supervision of the Qualified Veterinary Doctor.
Penalty context
Operating without a required licence is punishable under section 63, which, as amended by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, now provides a penalty which may extend to ten lakh rupees. Unhygienic processing is penalised under section 56, up to one lakh rupees.
Practical examples
Example 1. A poultry processor applies for a licence without a local authority NOC. Paragraph 1.1 requires the NOC before the licence is granted.
Example 2. A plant has cattle and goats processed in one hall with no separation. Paragraph 3.2 requires separate provision for different species.
Example 3. A truck carries animals for 14 hours by road. The text says journeys exceeding 12 hours are by railway.
Need help licensing a meat business?
Slaughter houses combine a licence, a local NOC, veterinary supervision and heavy infrastructure. TaxClue can map these requirements to your site and prepare the application under our Central FSSAI licence service, or the State route if your capacity falls outside Schedule 1. We will confirm the current thresholds first, since the 2017 text may have changed.
Key takeaways
- Part IV-A covers slaughter of animals or birds within an FBO's factory premises for supply to the public.
- A local authority NOC is needed before the licence.
- Layout must give one-way movement and separate clean and dirty sections.
- Transport, pre-slaughter rest and stunning follow detailed welfare rules.
- A Qualified Veterinary Doctor controls ante-mortem and post-mortem decisions.
- One wall-height figure in paragraph 3.8 looks like a possible error in the source.
Read next
- Schedule 4 Part IV: meat processing units
- Schedule 4 Part IV: retail meat shops
- FSSAI licence for meat and fish processing
- FSSAI Central licence: who needs it and how to apply
Disclaimer: Based on the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as enacted, read with the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 where it applies (ss.59, 61 and 63 only), and Schedule 4 of the FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 as per the 2017 compendium (Version II, 09.11.2017). Later amendments may have changed the Regulations (fees, forms, validity, portal steps and thresholds); verify on fssai.gov.in. Verify current notifications, regulations and FSSAI orders before acting.