The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2006 No. 508

Agriculture

The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006

Made

6th December 2006

Coming into operation

31st December 2006

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development(1), makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 5(1)(b), 19(e) and (g), 44 and 60(1) of the Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(2):

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006 and comes into operation on 31st December 2006.

Amendment of The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005

2.  The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005(3) is amended as follows.

3.  In Article 22 (Export of animals to a member State)—

(a) for paragraph (1) there shall be substituted—

“(1) A person who exports or consigns for export to a member State, any animal, shall ensure that, in addition to any other requirement in this Order for the identification of the animal, it has attached to its left ear, in such a position as not to obscure any other tag, a blue approved eartag bearing information identical—

(a) in the case of an animal born within the European Union on or after 9th July 2005, to the approved eartag attached to it as the first means of identification in accordance with Article 9(2) or, where that eartag has been replaced under paragraph1(4)(a) of Schedule 1, to that replacement;

(b) in the case of an animal born within the European Union on or before 8th July 2005, to the approved eartag attached to it in accordance with Article 8;

(c) in the case of an animal imported from a third country, to the approved eartag attached to it in accordance with Article 12(3).

(1A) For the purposes of paragraph (1) any reference in that paragraph to a provision of this Order (except Article 12(3)) includes a reference to any provision in legislation implementing or supplementing the Council Regulation in Great Britain or a member State and having an equivalent effect.”.

(b) for sub-paragraph (2)(c) there shall be substituted—

“(c) an animal born on or after 9th July 2005 if the first means of identification has been lost or damaged and not replaced on the holding on which it was born or not replaced in accordance with these Regulations or legislation in Great Britain implementing or supplementing the Council Regulation and having an equivalent effect.”.

4.  After Article 24 (Processing plants, collection centres and incineration plants) there shall be inserted—

“Powers of inspectors

24A.   An inspector may, for any purpose relating to the enforcement of this Order—

(a) collect, pen and mark any animal and require a keeper to arrange for the collection, penning, marking and securing of any animal;

(b) remove and retain any document or record;

(c) have access to, and check the operation of, any computer and any associated apparatus or material which is or has been used in connection with records;

(d) where a record is kept by means of a computer, require the record to be produced in a form which may be taken away;

(e) require the production of any unused eartags, and record their numbers;

(f) take with him a representative of the European Commission acting for the purposes of Article 12 of the Council Regulation, or any other people or things he considers necessary.

Reasonable assistance

24B.   A person required to give reasonable assistance or information to a person acting under this Order shall, unless he has reasonable cause, do so without delay.

Information to be furnished to an inspector

24C.— (1) The keeper of an animal shall, on demand by an inspector, provide such information as he possesses as to—

(a) that animal and any other animal which is or has been on his holding;

(b) any eartag, holding register or movement document which is or has been in his possession;

(c) the location of all or any part of his holding; and

(d) such other matter as the inspector may require for the purposes of his functions under this Order.

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed as requiring any person to provide any information if to do so may incriminate him.”.

5.  In Schedule 1 (System required by Section A.5 of the Annex to the Council Regulation)—

(a) for paragraph 7(1) there shall be substituted—

“(1) Where an animal is moved off a holding to an assembly centre, the keeper at that holding shall—

(a) record the individual animal identification number of that animal in his register;

(b) complete Part 3(a) of the movement document; and

(c) in the case of an animal intended for intra-Community trade, attach a blue approved eartag in accordance with Article 22(1).”.

(b) after paragraph 7(2) there shall be inserted—

“(3) Subject to paragraph (4), when an animal is moved from the assembly centre for direct consignment to another member State, the keeper at that centre shall—

(a) attach a blue approved eartag which complies with the requirements of Article 22(1) to the animal’s left ear; and

(b) enter the individual animal identification number in his register and in the movement document.

(4) Sub-paragraph (3)(a) applies only in relation to an animal which was moved from a holding referred to in paragraph (1) before the coming into operation of the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006(4).”.

6.  For Schedule 3 (Movement document) there shall be substituted the Schedule set out in the Schedule to this Order.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on 6th December 2006.

L.S.

E. Redmond

A senior officer of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

Article 6

SCHEDULE

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005 (“the 2005 Order”).

Article 3 amends provisions of the 2005 Order on the identification of animals moved to another member State of the European Union.

Article 4 inserts new enforcement provisions into the 2005 Order. Article 24A gives a range of powers to inspectors. New Articles 24B and 24C relate to the giving of reasonable assistance to a person acting under the Order and specifies the information required to be furnished to an inspector in pursuit of this Order.

Article 5 amends paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to the 2005 Order so that, in the case of an animal moved from a holding to an assembly centre for consignment to another member State, a second eartag must be applied before the animal leaves the holding.

Article 6 and the Schedule substitute Schedule 3 to the 2005 Order, which prescribes the form for recording animal movements. The new form contains a field to record the expected duration of the journey. This is a requirement of Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005 (O. J. L3, 5.1.2005, p.1) on the protection of animals during transport and related operations.

(1)

The Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland was renamed the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development by Article 3(4) of the Departments Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/283 (N.I. 1) )

(2)

S.I. 1981/1115 (N.I. 22); The relevant amendments are S.I. 1984/702 (N.I. 2) Article 17(2) and S.I. 1994/1891 (N.I. 6) Article 23 (1) and (2)

(3)

S.R. 2005 No. 535

(4)

S.R. 2006 No. 508