Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order (Northern Ireland) 1997

Route plans

13.—(1) This Article shall apply in relation to horses (other than registered horses within the meaning of Council Directive 90/426/EEC), cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, where the animals are transported between member States or exported to third countries, provided that the journey time exceeds eight hours.

(2) If there is more than one transporter involved in a journey, the provisions of this Article shall be complied with by the person consigning the animals for the whole period of the journey.

(3) A transporter who intends to transport animals on a journey to which this Article applies shall draw up and sign a route plan containing the information set out in Schedule 10 which covers the whole period of the journey.

(4) The transporter shall submit the signed route plan to the Divisional Veterinary Officer for the area in which the journey will begin.

(5) If the Divisional Veterinary Officer mentioned in paragraph (4) is satisfied that the proposed journey is in compliance with the provisions of this Order, he shall mark on the route plan the numbers of the export health certificates of the animals, stamp the route plan and return it to the transporter.

(6) A person shall not transport animals on a journey to which this Article applies unless he has received from the Divisional Veterinary Officer mentioned in paragraph (4) a duly stamped route plan which relates to those animals and that journey.

(7) The transporter shall ensure that the original copy of the route plan is attached to the export health certificate and accompanies the consignment throughout the journey.

(8) The transporter shall ensure that, where in relation to an animal the journey exceeds the appropriate time limits set out in Schedule 7, that transport of the animals is not begun unless—

(a) where necessary, reservations have been made at all stopping points or transfer points specified in the route plan, and he has received written confirmation of the reservations; and

(b) steps have been taken to meet the animals' need for food and water during the journey, including contingency plans for when the route plan is changed or where the journey is interrupted for reasons beyond his control.

(9) The transporter shall ensure that the person in charge of the animals during the journey endorses on the route plan the times and places at which the animals transported are fed and watered during the journey, and that this information is written on the route plan at the times such feeding and watering takes place.

(10) Both the transporter and the person in charge of the animals during the journey shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the route plan is complied with.

(11) When the journey is completed, the person who signed the route plan when it was originally submitted to the Divisional Veterinary Officer in accordance with paragraph (4) shall either—

(a) certify in writing on the route plan that it was complied with during the journey; or

(b) if it was not complied with, shall describe on the route plan the actual journey, together with the reasons for the route plan not being complied with,

and shall send it within 15 days of completion of the journey to the Divisional Veterinary Officer referred to in paragraph (4), and shall keep proof that it was sent and of the date on which it was sent for a period of six months.

(12) The transporter shall keep a copy of the route plan for a period of six months from completion of the journey, and shall produce it at the request of an inspector and allow copies to be taken.

(13) In the case of exports directly to third countries from Northern Ireland, where the journey time within the European Union exceeds eight hours, or where the animals are being exported to third countries by sea and the total travelling time exceeds eight hours, the transporter shall—

(a) ensure that the route plan is certified (by means of stamp and signature) at the point of departure from Northern Ireland, by a veterinary inspector after he has checked that the animals are fit to continue their journey; and

(b) within 15 days of the completion of the journey, send back the route plan to the Divisional Veterinary Officer referred to in paragraph (4).

(14) If a transporter is a limited company, the route plan shall be signed by a director of that company or a person previously nominated by him in writing to act on behalf of the company.

(15) In this Article, in relation to the transport of registered horses, it shall be for the transporter to prove that the animals being transported are registered in accordance with Council Directive 90/426/EEC.