The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) (Wales) Order 2008

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes provision for the administration and enforcement in Wales of Council Regulation (EC) No. 21/2004 (establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals and amending Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 and Directives 92/102/EEC and 64/432/EEC). It revokes and replaces the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) (Wales) Order 2006, S.I. 2006/1036 (as amended by S.I. 2006/2926), changing the domestic identification requirements to reflect the fact that the UK will no longer take advantage of a derogation from the main double tagging regime under Council Regulation 21/2004.

Part 2 of the Order deals with the identification of animals. It requires the application of two means of identification to an animal identified or imported on or after 22 January 2008 and intended for export (articles 5 and 9). It provides for animals that are not intended for export and intended for slaughter within 12 months of birth to be identified with a single identification tag (article 6). Older animals which have been individually identified with a single tag before 22 January 2008 can continue to be identified with a single tag, whereas those that have not must be re-tagged with two identification tags (articles 7 & 8).

Part 3 of the Order deals with identification tags (the term “identification tag” is defined in article 2(1)) and provides that the Welsh Ministers must approve identification tags (article 11).

Part 4 of the Order deals with the removal or replacement of identification marks. It prohibits the removal of identification tags unless necessary for welfare reasons (article 14) and the alteration of identification marks (article 22). It provides for the replacement of an identification mark that is lost, removed or illegible with an identical means of identification (article 15) or replacement with a means of identification with a different code (articles 16 to 19).

Part 5 makes provision for every keeper to keep an up-to-date holding register, setting out the information which must be entered in the register and when (article 23 and Schedule 1).

Part 6 makes provision for a movement document to accompany every animal when it moves between holdings (article 24 and Schedule 2) and specifies when and to whom the document must be supplied (article 25).

Part 7 sets out the requirement for keepers to keep an annual inventory (article 26) and supply information to the Welsh Ministers about his or her holding (article 27) and the time limits for doing so.

Part 8 provides for the allocation of lot numbers to animals at a market and prohibits the buying or selling of animals unless all animals from a lot are bought or sold (article 28).

Part 9 makes provision for the identification requirements of animals brought into Wales from other member States or other countries in the United Kingdom (articles 29 and 30).

Part 10 contains miscellaneous and enforcement provisions. Article 31 sets out a defence to the failure to identify an animal correctly in the case of emergency veterinary treatment. Article 32 confers various powers to inspectors and article 33 enables inspectors to prohibit the movement of a flock of sheep or a herd of goats to or from a holding. Articles 34 and 35 relate to the provisions of false or misleading information and to offences committed by bodies corporate. The Order is enforced by the local authority or the Welsh Ministers if so directed (article 36).

Breach of the Order is an offence under section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981, punishable in accordance with section 75 of that Act.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment has not been produced for this Order.