Livestock Movement Rules Change

DEFRA has announced it will be phasing in, over the next year, new livestock movement rules.  The aim is to simplify the current regulations whilst continuing to help prevent and control diseases.  The new rules will be the same for all species of animal and farmers will be able to move all animals around any land they have registered and are using within a 10 mile radius without the need for recording, reporting or triggering standstills as long as the land is under the same CPH number.

Livestock producers will be able to register all the land they use within a 10 mile radius under the same CPH number.  This includes land on FBTs or grazing agreements.  Those who currently have more than one CPH number will have the opportunity to merge them and will receive a letter regarding this over the next 12 months.  For land taken on a temporary basis (i.e. grazing agreements) which is within 10 miles of the Holding it will be possible to link the land via a Temporary Land Association (TLA).  These will last up to a year and can be renewed.  During this time, the land will be treated as if it is part of the main Holding and there will be no need to record or report movements and animal movements between the land will not trigger a standstill.  Once the changes have been introduced producers will still need to record and report movements between different CPH numbers and these will continue to trigger the standstill rules.

Both CTS links and SOAs will be withdrawn by summer 2017; producers will be written to to explain their options.  The plan is to start rolling out the changes from June/July 2016 with completion by summer/autumn 2017.  Although there is simplification due to the fact that all species will now have the same rules, for those producers who used CTS links and SOAs there is probably not too much difference – apart from the previous requirement to record movements, which does not seem a requirement under the new rules.  For cattle keepers the announcement does not mention bovine TB testing and whether cattle moving between ‘merged’ CPH numbers would need to be tested; this could be a big change if not required.  Some may stick with multiple CPH numbers so, as and when animals are brought on to one CPH, they do not trigger a standstill on the whole Holding.

DEFRA has also announced changes to sheep and goat movement reporting.  As from 1^st January 2018 the batch reporting exemption will be removed.  This will mean all sheep movements between different CPHs must be reported using their individual tag number (except for slaughter animals which are identified with a batch-tag).  The sheep and goat adjacent moves reporting exemption will also be removed.  Once this comes into place all livestock movement between different CPHs must be reported and recorded, whether or not the land is adjacent or not.