SCHEDULE 3Cattle passports
PART 1 Passports
Issue of a passport
1.
(1)
If the National Assembly receives a fully completed and accurate application for the registration of an animal within the specified time limits, it must issue a cattle passport for that animal.
(2)
The National Assembly may issue one if it receives an application outside the specified time, but only if it is satisfied of the animal's identity and that all the information in the application is accurate.
(3)
The passport remains the property of the National Assembly at all times.
Retention of cattle passports
2.
(1)
A keeper must retain the cattle passport for each animal (unless it has been submitted to the National Assembly) and produce it to an inspector on demand.
(2)
Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.
Lost cattle passports and replacements
3.
(1)
If a cattle passport is lost, stolen or destroyed, the keeper of the animal to which it relates must notify the National Assembly in writing within 14 days of becoming aware of the fact and apply for a replacement.
(2)
The National Assembly may only provide a replacement cattle passport if it is satisfied that it can accurately reconstruct the movements of the animal since birth or importation.
F1(3)
If the Welsh Ministers do not provide a replacement, the animal to which it relates must not be moved off a holding except (under the authority of a licence granted by the Welsh Ministers) to—
(a)
a plant approved under Article 24(1)(a), (b), (c) or (h) of Regulation (EC) No. 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council F2, as last amended by Regulation (EU) No 1385/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council; or
(b)
a registered collection centre which complies with Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex VI of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 142/2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No. 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
(4)
If a person who has obtained a replacement cattle passport subsequently finds the original cattle passport, he or she must notify the National Assembly within 7 days and enclose with the notification the original cattle passport.
(5)
Any person who fails to comply with any provision of this paragraph is guilty of an offence.
Fees
4.
(1)
The National Assembly may set a fee for a replacement cattle passport.
(2)
The fee is the amount that the National Assembly considers reasonable to enable it to meet its expenses in replacing the passport.
(3)
The National Assembly must publicise the fee on its website.
(4)
The fee is payable with the application and is not refundable if the applicant withdraws the application or the National Assembly is unable to obtain sufficient information to issue a replacement passport.
Confiscation of cattle passports
5.
(1)
An officer of the National Assembly or a local authority may serve a notice on a keeper requiring him or her to surrender a passport if—
(a)
there is no animal on the holding for that passport;
(b)
the passport does not correctly describe the animal to which it purports to relate, or the passport was issued for a different animal;
(c)
the ear tag number in the passport is different from the ear tag number on the animal;
(d)
the movement details on the passport are not the same as the movement details on the database kept by the National Assembly in accordance with these Regulations or in the records kept by the keeper in accordance with these Regulations;
and any person who fails to comply with such a notice is guilty of an offence.
(2)
The National Assembly may not return a passport until it is satisfied that the passport accurately describes an animal in the possession of the keeper and that the movement entries in the passport are accurate.
Stolen animals
6.
If an animal with a cattle passport is lost or stolen, the keeper must send the cattle passport to the National Assembly within 7 days of becoming aware of the fact, together with written details of what has occurred, and failure to do so is an offence.
Alterations
7.
It is an offence to alter or deface any information in a cattle passport.
Misusing a passport
8.
It is an offence to use a cattle passport in relation to an animal other than the animal for which it was granted.
PART 2 Movement using passports
Movement off a holding
9.
(1)
When cattle are moved off a holding, the keeper must ensure that the cattle passport is marked with the date of movement and must sign it in the appropriate place.
(2)
He or she must give the cattle passport duly completed to the transporter before the cattle are moved off the holding.
(3)
Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.
Transporting cattle
10.
(1)
Anyone transporting cattle must ensure that each animal is accompanied throughout its journey by a valid cattle passport..
(2)
Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.
(3)
But, if the transporter is not the owner of the animals, it is a defence for him or her to prove that he or she had no reason to believe that an animal was not accompanied by a valid cattle passport
Movement on to a holding
11.
(1)
When cattle are moved on to a holding, the transporter must give each animal's cattle passport to the new keeper (or, if moved through a market, he or she must give it to the market operator, who must then give it to the new keeper).
(2)
The new keeper or market operator must ensure that the cattle passport is marked with—
(a)
the date of movement on to the holding,
(b)
the name and address of the keeper (or, in the case of a market, the operator of the market) and the holding number, using if practicable the bar code label provided by the National Assembly,
and must sign it.
F3(2A)
But sub-paragraph (2) does not apply to the occupier of a slaughterhouse.
(3)
He or she must do this within 36 hours of the arrival of the animal
(4)
No one may move the animal off the holding until the passport has been completed in accordance with this paragraph.
(5)
Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.
Imported cattle
12.
(1)
In the case of cattle brought into Wales from outside Great Britain, the animal may be moved from the place it was brought into Wales to the holding at which it must be registered in accordance with paragraph 4 or 5 of Schedule 2 using its passport (if it has one) or its movement document.
(2)
If it has a passport its keeper must complete it in accordance with this Schedule, and failure to do so is an offence.
Exports
F413.
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Markets and animal gatherings
14.
(1)
The operator of a market or other animal gathering commits an offence if any cattle are accepted without a valid cattle passport (or, in the case of imported cattle, documentation permitting them to be moved).
(2)
In this and the following paragraph “animal gathering” means an occasion at which animals are brought together for one or more of the following purposes—
(a)
a sale, show or exhibition;
(b)
onward consignment; or
(c)
inspection to confirm the animals possess specific breed characteristics.
Licences
15.
An officer of the National Assembly (or, in the case of an animal at a market, animal gathering or slaughterhouse, an inspector) may at any time issue a licence for cattle to be moved without a cattle passport if he or she is satisfied that it is necessary to do so and that it is not practicable to obtain one.