Preventive vaccination7.
(1)
Where the conditions in paragraph (2) are fulfilled, the Department may, in accordance with the preventive vaccination plan referred to in paragraph (2)(b)—
(a)
grant a licence to the occupier of any premises to vaccinate poultry, other captive birds or any category of poultry or other captive birds on those premises (a “vaccination licence”);
(b)
if it considers it necessary to reduce the risk of the spread of avian influenza—
(i)
declare a zone in all or any part of Northern Ireland where there are poultry or other captive birds, within which preventive vaccination against avian influenza is required to be carried out (a “preventive vaccination zone”), or
(ii)
serve a notice on the occupier of any premises, where there are poultry or other captive birds, on which preventive vaccination against avian influenza is required to be carried out (a “preventive vaccination notice”).
(2)
The conditions are—
(a)
a risk assessment has been carried out by the Department that indicates that any poultry or other captive birds in any part of Northern Ireland are exposed to a risk of avian influenza; and
(b)
a preventive vaccination plan has been submitted to and approved by the European Commission in accordance with Articles 56 and 57 of the Directive.
(3)
Any premises that are partly inside and partly outside a preventive vaccination zone are deemed to be wholly within it.