This Order further modifies Part II of Schedule 2 to the Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (“the principal Order”) which prescribes the amount of compensation payable for cattle slaughtered or caused to be slaughtered as a result of being affected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or suspected of being so affected and cattle which are in contact with cattle affected by the disease or which appear to be otherwise exposed to the infection of that disease.

The compensation payable under the principal Order is an amount equal to the lower of either the market value of the animal or the indicative market price calculated in accordance with paragraph 12A of Part II of Schedule 2 to the principal Order, except where a laboratory examination after slaughter does not confirm that the animal was affected. In such a case the compensation payable is an amount equal to the market value or 125 per cent of the indicative market price, whichever is the lower.

The Order amends the formula used to calculate the indicative market price contained in paragraph 12A of Part II of Schedule 2, so as to incorporate in the formula the average price paid for cattle under the purchase, slaughter and disposal scheme introduced under Commission Regulation (EC) No. 716/96 (Article 2(1)). The definition of “market value” has been amended in respect of animals over 30 months old.