Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

ANIMAL HEALTH ACT 1981 THE IMPORTATION OF ANIMALS ORDER 1977 (ARTICLE 3(2)) THE ANIMALS (POST IMPORT CONTROL) ORDER 1995

ENGLAND GENERAL IMPORT LICENCE NO. L/99/2

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, by this licence issued under Article 3(2) of the Importation of Animals Order 1977, hereby authorises the landing in England, in accordance with the conditions set out below: Pigs for Breeding originating in Northern Ireland. This licence is valid for imports from the date of issue until varied or revoked by the Minister. England General Import Licence No. /93/3, dated 18th June 1993, is hereby revoked.

Conditions

1. All landings of pigs shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Importation of Animals Order 1977, with the requirements set out in Commission Decision 93/24/EEC relating to Aujeszky’s disease, the requirements of Article 3 of the Animals (Post Import Control) Order 1995 and the requirements of The Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997. 2. Shipment must be direct from Northern Ireland to a holding in Great Britain. 3. A “consignment” is defined as a group of animals of the same species, travelling in the same vehicle or container, from a single consignor to a single consignee at a single destination. The animals must all be of the same health status. Note: Pigs loaded into a trailer drawn by a livestock vehicle (from a single consignor to a single consignee at a single destination) may count as one consignment provided that an official seal is applied by an officer of the Department of Agriculture, Northern Ireland (DANI) to the connecting linkage between the vehicle and trailer in such a way that they may not be separated without breaking the seal. 4. Each consignment of pigs shall be accompanied by an original health certificate, showing the marks determined by the competent authority identifying the holding of origin of each pig in accordance with Directive 92/102/EEC. The certificate must be signed by a duly authorised veterinary officer of DANI and must contain a description of the animals, giving for each pig the breed, age, sex, herd mark and unique individual mark and stating that: (a) each pig bears a number unique to each individual and a permanent official mark including the country ISO code, identifying the holding of origin; (b) Aujeszky’s disease is notifiable in the territory in which the pigs have been born and in the territory from which they now originate; (c) the pigs originate from herds in which no clinical, pathological or serological evidence of Aujeszky’s disease has been recorded for the past 12 months; (d) according the the farm Movement Records and a Declaration from the owner, the pigs have remained on the holding of origin for the previous 90 days or since birth, and they have not been on a holding where waste food (food containing products of animal origin but excluding meal manufactured from animal protein) has been kept within the previous 3 months; (e) the pigs have not been vaccinated against Aujeszky’s disease during the previous 12 months; (f) the animals were subjected to a clinical inspection by a veterinary surgeon within 24 hours of loading, showed no clinical signs of disease and were fit to travel; (g) the pigs are not animals which are to be destroyed under a programme to control or eradicate contagious or infectious disease; (h) the pigs are not obtained from a holding or an assembly centre in an area subject to restrictions as regards swine for animal health reasons. 5. A message in the format laid down by Council Directive 90/425/EEC must be sent electronically on the day of signing, from the local veterinary unit of DANI for the premises of origin to the Divisional Veterinary Manager (DVM) for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food responsible for the destination premises in Great Britain. 6. The certificate must state: (a) the pigs were isolated for a period of at least 30 days in isolation accommodation approved by the veterinary service DANI for export purposes so that they had no direct or indirect contact with pigs not of the same health status; (b) at least 21 days after the commencement of the period of isolation referred to at (a) above, (i) all pigs over 4 months of age at the date of export were subjected to a whole virus ELISA test for Aujeszky’s disease with negative results; (ii) all pigs under 4 months of age at the date of export were subject to an ELISA test for the presence of g1 antibody (Aujeszky’s disease vaccine) (according to the standard of Annex II of Commission Decision 93/24/EEC of 11th December 1992) with negative results; (c) the pigs are exported directly from the holding of origin; (d) when a single consignment is loaded for export into a livestock trailer drawn by a vehicle also containing animals of the same consignment, an officer of DANI must apply an official seal to the connecting linkage between livestock vehicle and the trailer in such a way that they may not be separated without breaking the seal and the number of the seal must be given in the health certificate and in the electronic message referred to at paragraph 5. 7. The certificate must state that according to a Declaration received from the exporter, the pigs will be moved from their premises of origin/the assembly centre directly to the destination named in the accompanying health certification, in containers/road/rail vehicles which had been thoroughly cleansed and disinfected beforehand with a disinfectant approved for the purpose by DANI and while in transit, will not come into contact with animals not similarly certified. 8. The importer must not allow the pigs to come into contact with pigs which are not part of the same consignment, they must be transported directly to the destination named in the accompanying health certification. 9. (a) Importers must ensure that the Divisional Veterinary Manager responsible for the area in which the destination premises is situated, is notified of the proposed import at least 24 hours before the expected time of arrival; (b) the importer must ensure that vehicles/containers used to carry the pigs are thoroughly cleansed and disinfected with an approved disinfectant at a concentration similar to that used against Fowl Pest, before leaving the destination premises; (c) in the event of the consignment being delayed or postponed the importer must advise the Animal Health Office Divisional Veterinary Manager. 10. The importer shall ensure that, after arrival of the imported pigs, the animals are made available for post import check testing if required, and in any event, pigs under 4 months of age on import must be tested using the whole virus ELISA test for Aujeszky’s disease after they reach the age of 4 months and before they reach the age of 5 months. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Animal Health (International Trade) Division, Import Section, Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 7NF.