The Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) (Amendment) Order 2000

Statutory Instruments

2000 No. 1298

ANIMALS, ENGLAND

ANIMAL HEALTH

The Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) (Amendment) Order 2000

Made

12th May 2000

Laid before Parliament

12th May 2000

Coming into force

5th June 2000

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 10 of the Animal Health Act 1981(1), and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, makes the following Order:

Title, commencement and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) (Amendment) Order 2000 and shall come into force on 5th June 2000.

(2) This Order shall extend to England only.

Amendment to the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974

2.—(1) In so far as it applies in England, the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974(2) shall be amended in accordance with this article.

(2) In article 4(2)(a)(3) after the words “member State” there shall be inserted the words “or Norway”.

(3) After article 4(2) there shall be inserted—

“(2A) The prohibition on landing contained in paragraph (1) above shall not apply to an animal brought into England from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man if it has been admitted into one of those countries or territories under legislation corresponding to the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999 which ensures that—

(a) the animal has been identified by means of a microchip implanted into its body;

(b) after it has been microchipped, the animal has been vaccinated against rabies in a country or part of a country specified in Schedule 2 to the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999 or in the British Islands or the Republic of Ireland after the age of three months by injection of an inactivated vaccine approved by the competent authority of the country in which the vaccination takes place;

(c) the animal has had any necessary booster injections in a country or part of a country specified in Schedule 2 to the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999 or in the British Islands or the Republic of Ireland at intervals specified by the manufacturer of the vaccine;

(d) after it has been vaccinated against rabies, and at least six months before being brought into the country or territory in question, a blood sample was taken from the animal and tested for rabies antibodies using a virus neutralisation test at a recognised laboratory (that is, a laboratory recognised in writing by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food or the competent authority of the country or territory in question as being competent to carry out blood tests for the purposes of the legislation), with the result of that test demonstrating a protective antibody titre of at least 0.5 international units per millilitre. The six month period shall begin on the date that the sample was taken from the animal;

(e) not less than 24 hours and not more than 48 hours before embarkation for the country or territory in question the animal has been treated by a veterinary surgeon entitled to practise veterinary medicine in the country in which the treatment is administered against Echinococcus multilocularis and ticks, using a veterinary medicine with a marketing authorisation in the country in which the medicine is administered and at an appropriate dosage; and in the case of treatment against Echinococcus multilocularis the medicine must contain praziquantel as the active ingredient. The treatment against ticks must not be by means of a collar impregnated with acaricide; and

(f) the animal has not been outside the British Islands, the Republic of Ireland or the countries or territories in Part I of Schedule 2 to the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999 (or, in the case of dogs assisting persons suffering from sensory impairment, those territories plus the countries in Part II of that Schedule) for the six month period immediately preceding the date it is brought into the country or territory in question.

(2B) The requirement for a delay of six months between taking the blood sample for testing and the animal being brought into the country or territory in question in sub-paragraph (d) of paragraph (2A) above shall not apply in the case of an animal which was microchipped, vaccinated and blood sampled before 28th February 2000, and which, at the time the blood sample was taken, either had never left the British Islands or the Republic of Ireland, or had spent six months in quarantine in either the British Islands or the Republic of Ireland and had not subsequently left those countries, or had been brought into the British Islands or the Republic of Ireland under the provisions of Council Directive 92/65/EEC (laying down animal health requirements governing trade in and imports into the Community of animals, semen, ova and embryos not subject to animal health requirements laid down in specific Community rules referred to in Annex A(I) to Directive 90/425/EEC(4)) and had not subsequently left those countries.”.

(4) At the end of article 4A there shall be added—

“(7) The provisions of this article shall apply in relation to Norway in the same way as they apply in relation to member States.”.

(5) In paragraphs (1) and (2)(b) of article 5A(5), in each case the words “Schedule 2 to this Order” shall be replaced with “Schedule 2 to the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999”.

(6) Paragraph (3) of article 6(6) shall be replaced with

“(3) The requirement to vaccinate against rabies in paragraph (1) above shall not apply in any case where the Minister is satisfied that the animal has been vaccinated and blood tested in accordance with the requirements of the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999, and the period of cover of the vaccination has not expired.”.

Amendments to the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999

3.—(1) The Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999(7) shall be amended in accordance with this article.

(2) After paragraph 4 of article 6 (treatment against Echinococcus multilocularis and ticks) there shall be inserted—

“(4A) The treatment against ticks must not be by means of a collar impregnated with acaricide.”.

(3) After article 6 (health status of the animal) there shall be inserted—

“Derogation for animals identified outside England

6A.— (1) This article applies in the case where the competent authority of a country or territory in Schedule 2 to this Order operates a mandatory identification system for cats or dogs under which—

(a) the competent authority allocates a unique number to the animal;

(b) a veterinary surgeon or person authorised by the competent authority to do so tattoos the animal with the unique number and registers that he has done so with the competent authority of the country or territory;

(c) the competent authority issues a certificate of registration for the animal which records the unique number of the animal;

(d) the number of any microchip subsequently inserted into the animal by a veterinary surgeon is recorded on the certificate of registration by the competent authority.

(2) If an animal is marked and registered in accordance with paragraph (1) above then, by way of derogation from the requirement in article 6 above that the animal must be vaccinated and tested after it has been microchipped, the animal may be vaccinated and tested before it has been microchipped provided that it is marked and registered in accordance with the competent authority’s requirements before it is vaccinated and tested; and in this case the declaration required by paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to this Order shall provide that—

(a) the official veterinary surgeon has seen the official registration document which contains the tattoo number and microchip number of the animal concerned and also the record of rabies vaccination which confirms that the animal was vaccinated against rabies, and (in the case of re-vaccination) indicates that the latest vaccination was carried out on or before the date of expiry of the previous vaccination in accordance with the recommendation in the manufacturer’s data sheet and that the latest vaccination is valid;

(b) the official veterinary surgeon has seen a record (certified by the laboratory carrying out the test) of the result of a serological test for the animal, carried out on a blood sample taken on (date) ... ... ... ... after the first vaccination referred to above, and in a laboratory recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for the purpose, which states that the rabies neutralising antibody titre was equal to or greater than 0.5 IU/ml.

(c) the animal showed no clinical signs of rabies at the time of certification.”.

(3) In article 9(1), the words “all three certificates required under the provisions of this Order” shall be replaced with “the two health certificates required under article 7(1) above and the declaration required under article 7(5) above”.

(4) In article 10(3) the words “all health certificates required under this Order” shall be replaced with “the two health certificates required under article 7(1) above and the declaration required under article 7(5) above”.

Hayman

Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

12th May 2000

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974 and the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999. The substantive changes are as follows.

It permits the entry into England of cats or dogs which have been admitted into Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man if they were admitted under a scheme similar to the scheme in the Pet Travel Scheme (Pilot Arrangements) (England) Order 1999 (article 2(2)).

It adds Norway to the countries from which cats and dogs may be imported in accordance with Council Directive 92/65/EEC (OJ No. L268, 14.9.92, p. 54). Norway was added to the list of countries from which cats and dogs can be imported into the United Kingdom by the Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No. 69/98 amending Annex I (Veterinary and Phytosanitary Matters) to the EEA Agreement (OJ No. L158, 24/6/1999, page 1; the relevant amendment is at page 35) (article 2(3)).

It amends article 6(3) of the 1974 Order so as to remove the requirement that an animal must have been resident for six months in a qualifying country before it can be exempted from the requirement for vaccination for rabies when it is in quarantine (article 2(5)).

It amends the 1999 Order so as to exclude an acaricidal collar from the permitted treatments against ticks (article 3(2)).

It provides that, in countries or territories which operate an official identification system for cats and dogs, the vaccination against rabies and subsequent blood test may be carried out before the animal is identified with a microchip instead of after identification with the microchip, and permits the certificate in Schedule 3 to the 1999 Order to be varied accordingly.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for this Order.

(1)

1981 c. 22. See section 86(1)(c) for a definition of “the Ministers”. In relation to England, the powers of “the Ministers” were transferred to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by the Transfer of Functions (Agriculture and Food) Order 1999, S.I. 1999/3141.

(2)

S.I. 1974/2211 as amended by S.I. 1977/361, S.I. 1984/1182, S.I. 1986/2062, S.I. 1990/2371, S.I. 1993/1813, S.I. 1994/1716 and S.I. 1999/3443.

(3)

The paragraph was inserted by S.I. 1994/1716.

(4)

OJ No. L268, 14.9.92, p. 54. The Directive has been amended by: The Act concerning the conditions of accession and adjustments to the Treaties—Accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden (OJ No. C241, 29.8.1994, p. 21; the relevant amendment is at page 137) as adjusted by Council Decision 95/1/EC (OJ No. L1, 1.1.1995, p. 1; the relevant amendment is at page 89): Commission Decision 95/176/EC (OJ No. L117, 24.5.1995, p. 23): The Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No. 69/98 amending Annex I (Veterinary and Phytosanitary Matters) to the EEA Agreement (OJ No. L158, 24/6/1999, page 1, the relevant amendment is at page 35).

(5)

The article was inserted by S.I. 1999/3443.

(6)

The paragraph was added by S.I. 1999/3443.

(7)

S.I. 1999/3443.