Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs,
Nobel House,
17 Smith Square,
London, SW1P 3JR
Out of hours: 020 7270 8960
2 July 2003
Defra today announced that the six day animal movements regime will become permanent.
An additional exemption to the standstill has been agreed for the peak sale season. The exemption will, from August 1 to November 30 2003, allow breeding rams, bulls and goats to leave farms that are under a six days standstill for a market provided they have been placed in a Defra approved isolation facility for six days beforehand. Farmers will also be able to move certain animals without standstill as long as they comply with the isolation requirements.
Animals will no longer be allowed to stay on market premises for more than 48 hours.
Speaking today, Food and Farming Minister, Lord Whitty, said: "These arrangements will deliver the best possible balance between preventing disease and enabling business to continue freely. It is very important that businesses continue to apply strict biosecurity controls".
Other issues such as on-farm inspections, the presence of vets at markets, cleansing and disinfection of markets, the role of dealers and distance limits for livestock movements would be discussed with stakeholders over the coming months as part of the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy.
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Notes for editors 1 The decision on the standing animal movements regime was based on a combination of the results of two epidemiological reports based on different modelling techniques, an analysis of the costs of an outbreak and an integration report bringing everything together in a formal cost benefit analysis (CBA). The integration report will be published on the Defra website today at www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/movements/default.htm The rest will be published in full later this month.
2 The key lessons from the CBA are: the most significant single factor in reducing the size of an outbreak is early detection of disease a 20-day standstill regime does not appear justified on cost benefit grounds unless more than one large outbreak every five years can be expected a six day standstill cannot be justified on cost benefit grounds alone unless outbreaks are expected more frequently than around one in 12 years if the outbreaks occurred only once in 20 years, the six day standstill is not greatly more expensive than a zero standstill standstill regimes do effectively reduce the size and therefore the cost of outbreaks, especially those of the nature of the 2001 FMD epidemic.
3 The Minister for Nature Conservation Ben Bradshaw made a written statement this morning, explaining the new policy, including Defra's joint approach with industry to develop biosecurity measures. The full text attached.
4 The CBA, part 2, arose from a statement on January 23, 2003 on the risk assessment work carried out following the two independent inquiries into the FMD outbreak, setting out the future work on biosecurity and other issues it proposed, as well as formally announcing the Spring livestock movement regime.
5 An exemption was granted on May 9 (PN166/03) to the six day standstill for individually identified cattle, sheep and goats attending agricultural shows. This came into force on May 30.
6 The Standing regime changes will come into force in England and Wales from August 1. The Scottish Executive will be consulting industry this Summer on their separate regime.
7 Livestock farmers in England and Wales will later this month receive a booklet detailing changes to the regime. Posters reminding farmers of the changes will be placed in markets and adverts are being taken out in the farming press detailing the new regime.
8 Farmers with inquiries about the new regime can contact the Defra Helpline on 0845 050 4141.
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Subject: Animal Movements Regime Date of statement: 2 July 2003
1. The Government made a statement on 23 January 2003 (Official Record Cols WS21-23) on the risk assessment work that had been carried out in response to the two independent inquiries into the FMD outbreak, setting out the further work on bio-security and other issues it proposed and announcing its conclusions on the livestock movement regime to be put in place for the spring.
2. On condition that the industry demonstrated a willingness to work towards improved disease protection and control, the Government announced a move to a six day standstill for cattle, sheep and goats from March. However, key elements of the regime lapse on 1 August. The future standing arrangements therefore need to be determined now, in the light of the work done since that earlier decision, and other factors. The risk assessment
3. The Government now has two epidemiological reports based on different modelling techniques, an analysis of the costs of an outbreak and an integration report bringing these elements together in a formal cost benefit analysis. These are all independent reports which have been peer reviewed.
4. The key lessons from this work are: the most significant single factor in reducing the size of an outbreak is early detection of disease; a 20-day standstill regime does not appear justified on cost benefit grounds unless more than one large outbreak every five years can be expected; a six day standstill cannot be justified on cost benefit grounds alone unless outbreaks are expected more frequently than around 1 in 12 years (and on some assumptions they would need to be even more frequent); however, even if outbreaks occurred only once in 20 years, the 6 day standstill is not greatly more expensive than a zero standstill policy; and standstill regimes do effectively reduce the size (and therefore the cost) of outbreaks, especially the more extreme outbreaks such as that in 2001. Other factors
5. The Government does not believe that it can determine future arrangements solely on the basis of this cost benefit analysis. It necessarily had to determine the likelihood of different frequencies of outbreak, but an outbreak could happen tomorrow or next month. It is not convinced that an outbreak due to illegally imported meat is likely as infrequently as has been suggested, and this route is only one of a number of possible routes for disease incursion. Particularly as they limit the size of large outbreaks, there is a strong case for a standstill as part of the livestock movements regime on precautionary grounds.
6. The Government's veterinary advisors are clear that a longer standstill is more effective in capping disease outbreaks but a 6-day standstill is better than zero days because it reduces the spread of disease and increases the chances of early detection. Any standstill regime would also help protect against the spread of other diseases and foster improved animal welfare more generally. The decision
7. The Government therefore remains of the view that a standstill period is a valuable long term element in the movement regime. However, the cost benefit analysis clearly shows that a return to the 20 day standstill for cattle sheep and goats could only be justified under very unlikely scenarios. The Government has therefore decided that the standing regime from 1 August should be based on a 6 day standstill.
8. The existing arrangements for pigs will continue, except that the arrival of a pig on a mixed holding will impose a 20 day standstill on any other pig on the holding, but only a six day standstill on any cattle, sheep or goats there. Exceptions
9. In determining the long term arrangements, the Government has listened carefully to arguments for specific exceptions to the general arrangements and has made provision where necessary for orderly business. For this reason, an exemption was introduced on 30 May for show animals.
10. The Government now proposes to introduce one further specific and constrained development to the regime to facilitate the sale and trading of male breeding livestock. In future, male breeding rams and bulls may move onto a farm during the period August to November without triggering a general 6 day standstill for the farm, so long as it goes into a Defra approved isolation facility. However, a six day standstill would apply to all livestock in that isolation facility. Similarly they will be allowed to move from a farm under standstill to a market if placed in a Defra approved isolation facility for six days beforehand. Similar arrangements will be put in place for goats. The Government believes that this new arrangement strikes the right balance between ensuring that farmers can trade successfully and ensuring that autumn breeder markets do not become a centre of disease spread. Detection and Biosecurity
11. The Government has made it clear that progress needs to be made to improve detection and biosecurity. It consulted recently on several ways of achieving this aim. As a result, it has decided to introduce from 1 August a limit of 48 hours for animals staying on market premises. There will also be some minor changes to the legislation on empty vehicles leaving markets without first cleansing and disinfecting. Work on veterinary farm inspections, the presence of vets at markets, cleaning and disinfection at markets, the role of dealers and distance limits will continue over the coming months in the context of the more general work on the animal health and welfare strategy. We will investigate in particular the proposals for vets at markets and the possibility of annual veterinary visits to farms further as part of our draft Action Plan to take forward animal disease prevention and control in partnership with industry and other key stakeholders. We hope to consult on a draft Plan in July.
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