Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687Show full title

Section 2 U.K. Disease control measures in the event of the official confirmation of a category A disease in kept animals

Article 11 U.K. Official confirmation of a category A disease in kept terrestrial animals

The competent authority shall officially confirm an outbreak of a category A disease in kept terrestrial animals when a case is confirmed in accordance with Article 9(2), (3) and (4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689.

Article 12 U.K. Disease control measures in the event of official confirmation of an outbreak of a category A disease in kept animals in an establishment

1. Following the official confirmation of an outbreak of a category A disease in an establishment in accordance with Article 11, the competent authority shall order that, in addition to measures provided for in Article 7, the following disease control measures are immediately applied under the supervision of official veterinarians:

(a) all animals of listed species kept in the affected establishment shall be killed as soon as possible on the spot, within the establishment, in such a way as to avoid any risk of spreading the relevant category A disease agent during and after killing;

(b) all appropriate and necessary biosecurity measures shall be taken to avoid any possible spread of the category A disease to unaffected kept or wild animals or to humans;

(c) bodies or parts of kept animals of listed species which have died or which have been killed pursuant to point (a) of this paragraph shall be disposed of in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009;

(d) all potentially contaminated products, materials or substances present in the establishment shall be isolated until:

(i)

they are disposed of or processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009, in the case of animal by-products (including those resulting from the killing and products of animal origin and germinal products);

(ii)

cleaning and disinfection measures are completed in accordance with the Article 15, in the case of other materials and substances fit for cleaning and disinfection;

(iii)

disposal is completed under the supervision of official veterinarians, in the case of feeding stuff and other materials unfit for cleaning and disinfection.

2. The competent authority shall order and supervise that:

(a) the transport from the affected establishment of animal by-products referred to in paragraphs 1(c) and 1(d)(i) complies with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009;

(b) the transport from the affected establishment of materials or substances referred to in paragraph 1(d)(iii) complies with its instructions regarding biosecurity and biosafety conditions to prevent the spread of category A disease agent.

3. The competent authority shall collect samples for laboratory examination from kept animals of listed species, before or when they are killed or dead, for the purposes of the epidemiological enquiry referred to in Article 57 of Regulation (EU) 2016/429.

4. By way of derogation of point (a) of paragraph 1, the competent authority may, after carrying out a risk assessment and taking into account the possibility of applying other risk-mitigating measures, decide:

(a) to order the killing of kept animals of listed species at the nearest suitable place in such a way as to avoid any risk of spreading the category A disease during killing or transport; or

(b) postpone the killing of kept animals of listed species, provided that those animals are subject to emergency vaccination as provided for in Article 69 of Regulation (EU) 2016/429.

Article 13 U.K. Specific derogations from Article 12(1)(a)

1. In the event of an outbreak of a category A disease in establishments keeping animals of listed species in two or more epidemiological units, the competent authority may grant derogation from Article 12(1)(a) to the epidemiological units in which the disease has not been confirmed, after carrying out a risk assessment, and, when necessary, after obtaining favourable results in laboratory examinations, and provided that:

(a) the epidemiological enquiry referred to in Article 57 of Regulation (EU) 2016/429 has not revealed any epidemiological link between the epidemiological units in which the category A disease has been confirmed and those in which the disease has not been confirmed, to suspect the spread of the category A disease between them; and

(b) the competent authority has confirmed that, at least during the monitoring period, set out in Annex II for the relevant disease, before the confirmation of the category A disease, the epidemiological units in which the disease has not been confirmed were kept completely separated and handled by different personnel.

2. The competent authority may grant derogation from Article 12(1)(a) to the following categories of animals provided that the conditions in paragraph 3 are fulfilled:

(a) animals kept in a confined establishment;

(b) animals kept for scientific purposes or purposes related to conservation of protected or endangered species;

(c) animals officially registered in advance as rare breeds; and

(d) animals with a duly justified high genetic, cultural or educational value.

3. The competent authority shall ensure that the following conditions are fulfilled when granting the derogation provided for in paragraph 2:

(a) the competent authority has carried out an assessment of the effects of granting such derogation and, in particular, of the effects on the animal health status of the Member State concerned and of the adjacent countries and the outcome of this assessment indicated that the animal health status is not endangered;

(b) appropriate biosecurity measures are applied to prevent the risk of transmission of the category A disease to unaffected kept animals or to wild animals or to humans taking into account:

(i)

the disease profile; and

(ii)

the affected species of animals;

(c) the animals are subject to appropriate isolation and clinical surveillance, including laboratory examinations, until the competent authority can ensure that the animals do not pose a risk of transmission of the category A disease.

4. The competent authority may grant specific derogations from Article 12(1)(a) to equine animals kept in establishments where an outbreak of the category A diseases referred to in Annex III has been confirmed under the conditions set out in that Annex.

Article 14 U.K. Additional disease control measures in the event of an outbreak of a category A disease in kept terrestrial animals in an establishment

1. The competent authority may establish, in addition to the measures provided for in Article 12, sampling procedures for kept animals of non-listed species and wild animals of listed species, based on the information obtained from the epidemiological enquiry referred to in Article 57 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/429.

2. The competent authority may, after carrying out a risk assessment of the further spread of the relevant category A disease and taking into account the possibility of applying other risk-mitigating measures, order the killing of kept animals of non-listed species and wild animals in such a way as to avoid any risk of spreading the category A disease during killing, transport and until disposal of the entire bodies or parts of the dead animals.

Article 15 U.K. Preliminary cleaning and disinfection and control of insects and rodents in the affected establishment

1. Immediately after the completion of the measures provided for in Article 12, and when relevant in Article 14, the competent authority shall order and supervise a preliminary cleaning and disinfection and, when relevant, control of insects and rodents, in the affected establishment in order to avoid spreading of the category A disease.

2. The preliminary cleaning, disinfection and control referred to in paragraph 1 shall be:

(a) performed in accordance with the procedures set out in points A and B of Annex IV using the appropriate biocidal products to ensure destruction of the relevant category A disease agent; and

(b) adequately documented.

3. When the competent authority grants one of the derogations provided for in Article 13(2) and (4), it shall order the preliminary cleaning, disinfection and the control referred to in paragraph 1 adapting the procedures referred to in point 2(a) to the specific situation without detriment to the control of spreading of the category A disease from the affected animals and affected establishments and locations to other unaffected animals or to humans.

4. In addition to the measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the competent authority shall order and supervise that the means of transport used for the transport of animals to and from the affected establishment are properly cleaned and disinfected and, where relevant, subjected to measures ensuring the control of insects and rodents.

Article 16 U.K. Derogations and special rules for the preliminary cleaning and disinfection and control of vectors

The competent authority may grant derogation to the requirement regarding cleaning and disinfection and control of insects and rodents set out in Article 15 in the case of:

(a)

pastures epidemiologically linked to the affected establishment, under specific procedures to ensure effective inactivation of the relevant category A disease agent taking into account the disease profile, the type of establishment and the climatic conditions; and

(b)

manure, including litter and used bedding, from the affected establishment, under specific procedures to ensure effective inactivation of the relevant category A disease agent in accordance with scientific evidence.

Article 17 U.K. Identification of epidemiologically linked establishments and other locations of relevance, including means of transport

1. In the frame of the epidemiological enquiry, as referred to in Article 57 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/429, and in order to identify all the epidemiologically linked establishments and other locations of relevance, including means of transport, the competent authority shall trace all kept animals present in the establishment where an outbreak of a category A disease has been confirmed and any products, materials, substances, means of transport or people likely to spread the relevant category A disease including:

(a) those dispatched into and from the establishment; and

(b) those that have entered into contact with the establishment.

2. The tracing referred to in paragraph 1 shall cover at least the monitoring period, set out in Annex II for the relevant disease, calculated backwards from the date the suspicion was notified.

3. After carrying out a risk assessment, the competent authority may exclude from the tracing referred to in paragraph 1 those products considered as safe commodities, as provided for in Annex VII.

Article 18 U.K. Measures to be applied in the epidemiologically linked establishments and other locations of relevance, including means of transport

1. When the tracing provided for in Article 17(1) demonstrates that animals of listed species were dispatched from or to the affected establishment during the period referred to in paragraph 2 of that Article, the competent authority shall:

(a) carry out investigations and impose restriction and biosecurity measures in accordance with Article 6, Article 7 and Article 8 in the establishments of destination or origin of the movement; or

(b) immediately extend the measures in Article 12 to the establishment of origin or the establishment of destination of the movement in the case that there is epidemiological evidence of spreading of the disease to, from or through that establishment.

2. The competent authority shall apply the measures referred to in paragraph 1 in other establishments and locations of relevance, including means of transport, likely to be contaminated as a result of contact with animals, products, materials, substances, persons or means of transport from the affected establishment identified in the frame of the tracing referred to in Article 17 or based on any other relevant information from the epidemiological enquiry, as referred to in Article 57 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/429.

Article 19 U.K. Measures to be applied to the products identified by the tracing

1. The competent authority shall order and supervise that semen, oocytes and embryos identified as contaminated by the tracing referred to in Article 17 are disposed of in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1069/2009.

2. The competent authority shall order and supervise the treatment, processing or disposing of the products identified by the tracing referred to in Article 17, at least up to:

(a) the first food processing establishment in the case of products of animal origin;

(b) the hatchery or the establishment where eggs were sent for hatching, in the case of hatching eggs which did not yet hatch; and

(c) the first establishment of processing in the case of animal by products, except manure; or

(d) the location where it is stored, in the case of manure, including litter and used bedding.

3. The competent authority shall establish official surveillance on poultry hatched during the tracing period referred to in Article 17(2) from hatching eggs originating from the affected establishment; this surveillance shall be established in all the establishments of destination of the hatching eggs and shall be maintained for a period of time of 21 days after hatching.

4. The competent authority shall order and supervise that the transport from the establishments of animal by-products is subject to the provisions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009.

5. The competent authority shall order and supervise that materials or substances likely to be contaminated or likely to transmit the relevant category A disease comply with its instructions regarding biosecurity and biosafety conditions to prevent the spread of category A disease agent.

Article 20 U.K. Measures to be applied in the event of official confirmation of an outbreak of a category A disease in food and feed businesses, border control posts, animal by-products establishments and any other location of relevance, including means of transport

1. In the event of official confirmation of an outbreak in accordance with Article 11 in food and feed businesses, border control posts, animal by-products establishments or any other locations of relevance, including means of transport, the competent authority shall apply:

(a) the relevant provisions laid down in Articles 12 to 19; and

(b) if needed, additional measures adapted to the specific situation in order to prevent the spread of the category A disease from the affected animals and affected establishments and locations to other unaffected animals or to humans.

2. The competent authority shall apply provisions laid down in Articles 12 to 19 also in the establishments of origin of the affected animals or products present in the establishments and locations referred to in paragraph 1.