The Poultry Breeding Flocks and Hatcheries (Scotland) Order 2007

PART 1 Introductory provisions

Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Poultry Breeding Flocks and Hatcheries (Scotland) Order 2007 and shall come into force on 21st March 2007.

(2) This Order extends to Scotland only.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Order–

“approved laboratory” means a laboratory approved by the Scottish Ministers for the purposes of this Order;

“breeding flock” (except as provided for in article 5) means a flock kept for the production of eggs intended for incubation;

“building” includes a shed and any part of a building that has its own ventilation system and is separated from other parts of the building by a solid partition;

“chick” means a bird less than 72 hours old that has not been fed;

“Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1003/2005” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1003/2005 implementing Regulation (EC) No. 2160/2003 as regards a Community target for the reduction of the prevalence of certain salmonella serotypes in breeding flocks of Gallus gallus and amending Regulation (EC) No. 2160/2003(1);

“Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1177/2006” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1177/2006 implementing Regulation (EC) No. 2160/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards requirements for the use of specific control methods in the framework of the national programmes for the control of salmonella in poultry(2);

“flock” (except as provided for in article 5) means all poultry of the same health status kept on the same premises or in the same enclosure and constituting a single epidemiological unit; in the case of housed poultry, this includes all birds sharing the same airspace;

“hatchery” means any premises, with a total incubator capacity of not less than 1000 eggs, on which the eggs of poultry are incubated or hatched and from which chicks are sold or supplied;

“layer breeder” means poultry kept for the production of eggs intended for the incubation and hatching of chicks–

(a)

that will be grown to produce eggs for human consumption, or

(b)

whose progeny will be grown to produce eggs for human consumption;

“meat breeder” means poultry kept for the production of eggs intended for the incubation and hatching of chicks–

(a)

that will be grown to produce meat for human consumption, or

(b)

whose progeny will be grown to produce meat for human consumption;

“occupier” (except as provided for in article 5) means, in relation to any hatchery or holding, the person in charge of the hatchery or holding; and

“poultry” means domestic fowls, turkeys, geese or ducks.

(2) Any reference in this Order to anything done in writing or produced in written form includes a reference to an electronic communication, as defined in the Electronic Communications Act 2000(3), which has been recorded and is consequently capable of being reproduced.

PART 2 Notification of hatcheries and breeding flocks

Notification of hatcheries

3.—(1) The occupier of a hatchery shall notify the Scottish Ministers of the information in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1–

(a) within three months of the coming into force of this Order; or

(b) in the case of a hatchery established after the date this Order comes into force, within three months of the establishment of the hatchery.

(2) The occupier of a hatchery shall notify the Scottish Ministers of any change to the information in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1, within three months of the change.

(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any occupier who has provided the Scottish Ministers with that information under the Poultry Breeding Flocks and Hatcheries Order 1993(4).

Notification of breeding flocks

4.—(1) The occupier of a holding on which one or more breeding flocks of at least 250 poultry of any single species are kept shall notify the Scottish Ministers of the information in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1–

(a) within three months of the coming into force of this Order; or

(b) in the case of a holding established after this Order comes into force, within three months of the establishment of the holding.

(2) The occupier of such a holding shall notify the Scottish Ministers of any change to the information in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 within three months of the change.

(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any occupier who has provided the Scottish Ministers with that information under the Poultry Breeding Flocks and Hatcheries Order 1993.

PART 3 Control of salmonella in Gallus gallus

Interpretation of Part 3

5.  In this Part–

(a) “breeding flock” means a flock of at least 250 domestic fowl of the species Gallus gallus kept for the production of eggs intended for incubation; and

(b) “occupier” means the person in charge of a holding on which one or more breeding flocks is kept.

Notification of arrival of breeding flocks

6.—(1) The occupier shall notify the Scottish Ministers of the expected date of arrival at the holding of any breeding flock.

(2) The notification shall be made at least two weeks before the expected date of arrival.

Notification of movement to laying phase etc.

7.—(1) The occupier shall notify the Scottish Ministers of the date that each breeding flock on the holding is expected to–

(i) move to the laying phase or laying unit; and

(ii) reach the end of the production cycle.

(2) The notification shall be made at least two weeks before the relevant expected date.

Sampling of breeding flocks

8.—(1) The occupier shall take samples from each breeding flock on the holding at the following times–

(a) when the birds in the breeding flock are chicks;

(b) when the birds in the breeding flock are four weeks old;

(c) two weeks before the date the breeding flock is expected to come into lay or move to the laying phase or laying unit; and

(d) every second week during the laying period.

(2) Sampling under paragraph (1)(a) to (c) shall be done in accordance with Schedule 2 and sampling under paragraph (1)(d) shall be done in accordance with point 2.2.2.1 of the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1003/2005 (routine sampling at the initiative of the operator).

Submission of samples to an approved laboratory

9.—(1) The occupier shall dispatch the samples taken in accordance with article 8 to an approved laboratory for the purposes of testing for the presence of salmonella.

(2) The occupier shall dispatch the samples within–

(a) 24 hours of being taken; or

(b) 48 hours of being taken if they have been stored in a refrigerator at a temperature of between 1° and 4° C from the time they could practicably have been placed there.

(3) The occupier shall ensure that the samples are identified prior to dispatch so as to enable the laboratory to determine–

(a) the name of the occupier;

(b) the address of the holding on which the breeding flock from which the samples were taken is kept;

(c) the type of samples;

(d) the date on which the samples were taken;

(e) the identification of the breeding flock sampled;

(f) the age of the breeding flock sampled;

(g) whether the breeding flock from which the samples were taken is a flock of layer breeders or meat breeders; and

(h) the status in the breeding pyramid of the breeding flock from which the samples were taken.

Records of samples

10.—(1) The occupier shall–

(a) keep a record of the information in paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 in respect of each sample taken in accordance with article 8; and

(b) by 30th June and 31st December each year, provide the Scottish Ministers with that information for the samples taken in the six months preceding the date of submission of the information.

(2) The occupier shall retain the record kept in accordance with paragraph (1)(a) for two years from the date the sample is taken.

Records of movements

11.—(1) The occupier shall keep a record of the information in paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 for each movement to and from the holding of any domestic fowl of the species Gallus gallus or their chicks or eggs.

(2) The occupier shall retain the record for two years from the date of the movement.

Duties of an approved laboratory

12.  The person in charge of an approved laboratory shall ensure that–

(a) the examination of samples submitted to it under article 9 begins within 48 hours of receipt of the samples;

(b) the samples are prepared as follows–

(i) chick box liners in accordance with Schedule 4;

(ii) boot swabs samples in accordance with point 3.1.2. of the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1003/2005; and

(iii) any other samples of faeces in accordance with point 3.1.3 of that Annex;

(c) the samples are tested for salmonella in accordance with the method in point 3.2 of that Annex; and

(d) the result of any test on any sample is reported in writing as soon as practicable to the occupier who submitted it.

PART 4 Prohibition on use of specific control methods

Prohibition on the use of antimicrobials

13.  No person shall administer any antimicrobial to any bird in a breeding flock of domestic fowl of the species Gallus gallus as a specific method to control salmonella in breach of Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1177/2006.

Prohibition on the use of vaccines

14.  No person shall administer any live salmonella vaccine to any bird in a breeding flock of domestic fowl of the species Gallus gallus in breach of Article 3(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1177/2006.

PART 5 Miscellaneous

Hatchery records

15.—(1) The occupier of a hatchery containing domestic fowl of the species Gallus gallus or their eggs shall keep a record of–

(a) the information in paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 in respect of the movement of any eggs of domestic fowl of the species Gallus gallus to and from the hatchery; and

(b) the information in paragraph 4 of Schedule 3 in respect of the movement of any chicks of domestic fowl of the species Gallus gallus from the hatchery.

(2) The occupier shall keep the record for two years from the date of the movement.

Production of records

16.  Any person required to keep a record under this Order shall produce it to an inspector or officer of the Scottish Ministers on demand at any reasonable time and allow a copy of it to be made or an extract from it to be taken.

Tampering with samples

17.  No person shall tamper with or wrongfully interfere with a sample for the purpose of affecting the result of any test required to be carried out under this Order.

Powers of Scottish Ministers in cases of default

18.  If any person fails to take any action required to be taken under this Order, an inspector may, without prejudice to any proceedings arising out of such default, take, or cause to be taken, such action and the amount of any expenses reasonably incurred by the inspector in doing so are recoverable by the Scottish Ministers from the person in default.

Enforcement

19.—(1) The local authority shall be responsible for enforcing this Order.

(2) The Scottish Ministers may direct, in relation to cases of a particular description or a particular case, that any duty imposed on a local authority under paragraph (1) shall be discharged by the Scottish Ministers and not by the local authority.

Revocation

20.  The Poultry Breeding Flocks and Hatcheries Order 1993 is revoked in relation to Scotland.

ROSS FINNIE

A member of the Scottish Executive

St Andrew’s House,

Edinburgh

20th March 2007