Bovine TB Measures in Wales October 20, 2016 12:00 am The Welsh Government is consulting on new measures to eliminate bovine TB. The current programme ends in 2016. The new initiative, the ‘Refreshed TB Eradication Programme’ will designate Low, Intermediate and High TB Areas across Wales. Each region will have disease controls tailored to the area. This will include annual herd tests for Low and Intermediate Areas and six monthly tests in High TB Areas. There will also be tighter cattle movement controls which will require Post Movement testing for cattle which have moved from a higher disease area to a lower one. Other proposals include: the development of a standardised online biosecurity package reducing the cap for highly valuable animals from £15,000 to £5,000 applying a % reduction to CAP scheme payments for failure to comply with; pre-movement testing requirements, a Veterinary Requirement Notice for moving cattle without the appropriate licence (this is in addition to the reduction already in place for late testing) eradicating Exempt Finishing Units (EFUs) in the Low Risk area or adhering to more stringent rules (e.g. 6 monthly testing) encouraging ‘Informed Purchasing’ including grants for livestock markets to provide facilities which enables them to display a herd’s TB history. The closing date for responses is 10th January 2017. The full consultation can be found at https://consultations.gov.wales/consultations/refreshed-tb-eradication-programme
