Veterinary surveillance: Great Britain Poultry Register - Questions and Answers
- Why a register?
- When do flock owners or keepers have to register?
- Which bird species must be registered?
- Why only collect data on poultry?
- Which premises need to register?
- Who is responsible for registering premises?
- Why not register premises with less than 50 poultry?
- What happens if the information I have supplied changes?
- The number of birds on my premises change throughout the year. Do I have to notify you every time this happens?
- Do premises have to be registered?
- Doesn't Government already hold this information?
- Do hatchery or breeding flock operators need to register on the GB Poultry Register if they are already registered under the Poultry Breeding Flocks and Hatcheries Order 1993?
- What are the benefits of a central register?
- What does Government do with this information?
- For what specific purposes can the data be used?
- Can the information collected by the poultry register be used for any other pupose?
- Where permission is given for what additional purposes could the data be used?
- Can other people gain access to this data, for example under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs)?
- Will the poultry register information be used to cull flocks if there is an outbreak of avian flu?
- How much does registration cost the poultry keeper?
- What if poultry keepers or owners do not register?
1. Why a register?
Defra, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government have developed the GB Poultry Register to gather essential information about birds held on poultry premises for the purposes of risk assessment, disease prevention and control. If we know where birds are kept and how many there are we will be able to communicate with bird keepers more quickly and help manage any potential disease outbreak by targeting resources where they are needed most.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland is also capturing data about poultry premises but on a separate database. We are liaising closely so information can be effectively collated on a UK level.
2. When do flock owners or keepers have to register?
The register opened on 9 December 2005. We continue to take new registrations (of premises with 50 or more birds) for those who haven’t had the need to register to date. New registrations must be notified within one month of the birds being acquired. In order to keep the register up to date you are required to notify us of any significant changes to information you have already supplied. This should be done as soon as possible and in any event within one month of the changes happening.
We encourage premises with less than 50 birds to register on a voluntary basis.
3. Which bird species must be registered?
For the purpose of the GB Poultry Register, the species of poultry that must be registered include:
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4. Why only collect data on poultry?
We have taken a risk based approach as to the information we need to collect straight away. We consider that captive birds such as budgerigars and canaries are at lower risk than poultry because they are exclusively captive bred and confined to aviaries so that their exposure to viruses is lower.
5. Which premises need to register?
All premises with 50 or more poultry must register. The key criterion is the total number of birds being kept at the premises, whatever the purpose.
6. Who is responsible for registering premises?
Either the owner of the premises or the person with day to day responsibility for the birds at the premises.
7. Why not register premises with less than 50 poultry?
The decision to restrict the requirement to register, to flocks of 50 or more birds, was based on advice from experts who consider that smaller flocks are less likely to play a significant role in the spread of disease. From a logistical point of view, our priority is to focus on gathering information from these larger flocks. However, owners of smaller flocks are encouraged to register on a voluntary basis should they so wish. Whatever the size of the poultry flock it is important that all poultry keepers put biosecurity measures in place as soon as they can. It is important for anyone who keeps poultry to be vigilant and look out for signs of ill health.
8. What happens if the information I have supplied changes?
There is a requirement to notify us of significant changes to your information, for example changes in the name and address of the keeper or owner of the birds or the occupier of the premises where the birds are kept. Other changes we need to know about are to the species of birds being kept, an increase or decrease of 20% in the number of poultry usually present on the premises or, where appropriate, the number of poultry with access to the open air. These changes should be notified to us as soon as possible and in any event within one month of the changes happening. However this requirement does not apply if you keep less than 50 birds and have registered voluntarily.
9. The number of birds on my premises changes throughout the year. Do I have to notify you every time this happens?
You do not need to notify us if the changes in bird numbers are due to ‘usual management fluctuations’ such as; the emptying of poultry houses or hatcheries for immediate restocking; seasonal stocking including normal fluctuations over the game shooting period or the Christmas market; and breeding programmes where bird numbers increase prior to sale or onward movement of chicks. We need to know the number of birds usually kept on the premises, for example 700 turkeys reared annually for the Christmas market or 5,000 pheasants reared annually for shooting.
10. Do premises have to be registered?
Yes, it is a legal requirement if you have a premises with 50 or more birds.
- Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006
- Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Order 2007
- Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Wales) Regulations 2006
This does not necessarily mean 50 of one species (although this may be the case) but 50 overall, for example, if you have 30 chickens, 15 geese, 4 ducks and 1 rhea you need to register.
11. Doesn’t Government already hold this information?
Previously, Government and various individual poultry organisations held information separately but no central register existed with the data required for the prevention, control and risk assessment of disease. The GB Poultry Register provides this central repository.
The GB Poultry Register registration process is not connected to other related registration schemes or surveys. You may have already provided similar information to others but you must register separately with the GB Poultry Register to comply legally.
12. Do hatchery or breeding flock operators need to register on the GB Poultry Register if they are already registered under the Poultry Breeding Flocks and Hatcheries Order 1993?
Yes, they are still legally required to register on the GB Poultry Register. The register of breeding flock and hatchery operators is maintained by the State Veterinary Service and the scope and requirements of registration under the Order are different. It does not, for example, capture all the information we need to assess the risk, prevention or control of a disease outbreak.
13. What are the benefits of a central register?
A central register helps us to communicate with you, as a poultry keeper, quickly and effectively. Identifying where poultry are kept means that if a disease outbreak occurs, resources can be targeted where they are most needed. The database will be another safeguard to help us identify an outbreak and limit its spread.
14. What does Government do with this information?
We use the information for Avian Influenza disease control purposes by modelling disease impact scenarios. This improves our risk assessments and helps us refine our contingency plans. This ensures that our resources are targeted where they are needed most in the event of a disease outbreak. We are also able to communicate with poultry keepers and owners more quickly if we know their details, where their poultry are kept and how many they have.
The State Veterinary Service and Local Authorities are responsible for implementing and enforcing the provisions of Avian Influenza legislation, on behalf of Defra, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government. Information is provided to these bodies for this purpose under a data confidentiality agreement.
15. For what specific purposes can the data be used?
The information provided can be used in the following ways:
- Identifying regions and poultry sectors at most risk to enable development of appropriate risk-based responses to prevent and control the spread of this disease.
- More effective and targeted disease surveillance.
- Contingency Planning Exercises that are based on accurate information about the location of different types of poultry premises.
- To improve our communications to help keep poultry keepers informed of developments, offer advice to protect your poultry and/or to manage an outbreak of this disease.
- To assist in the protection of your health and safety or that of employees
working in close proximity to poultry. The information provided may
be passed to the Department of Health, NHS Trusts and the Health and
Safety Executive for the purposes of risk assessment and contingency
planning and communicating important health information to poultry keepers
if the need arises. Information will be provided to these bodies for
these purposes under a data confidentiality agreement.
16. Can the information collected by the poultry register be used for any other purpose?
We will protect any personal information in line with the Data Protection
Act 1998 and data protection statement at the end of the registration
form 
(519 KB). There is an opportunity, however, for poultry keepers to allow
us to use their information for additional related purposes
associated with disease prevention, risk assessment and control. To do
this, when registering their flock, they are invited to actively mark
the appropriate boxes at the end of the form, or inform the call centre
advisor that they agree to their data being used for these additional
purposes.
17. Where permission is given, for what additional purposes could the data be used?
We would like to use the information provided for the following additional purposes:
- Prevention, control and risk assessment of other poultry and zoonotic* diseases (information will be handled in the same way as stated in the above question above).
- To enable contact to request further information for improving the quality of our risk assessments, disease prevention and control plans.
- In the case of keepers of turkeys and chickens, to enable contact to seek assistance with salmonella surveys for the purpose of compliance with the EU Zoonoses Regulation 2160/2003 and Directive 2003/99/EC.
* Diseases and infections which are transmitted naturally between vertebrate animals and man.
18. Can other people gain access to this data, for example under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs)?
Although the overall position is that Defra may be required to release information, including personal data, in response to a request under the FOIA and the EIRs, the legislation also provides for exemptions to disclosure. In particular, there is provision for information to be withheld if there is a genuine risk, supported by evidence, that disclosure of information identifying individuals would lead to them suffering harm to their personal safety. In such circumstances, Defra would be entitled to withhold the information by virtue of section 38 of the FOIA (endangerment to an individual’s safety) or regulation 12(5)(a) of the EIRs (public safety). We would of course also consider any request in relation to other potentially relevant exemptions in the legislation, such as commercial harm and the prevention of crime.
These exemptions are subject to the public interest test, which means that Defra would need to determine whether the public interest in disclosing the information would outweigh the public interest in withholding it. Where there is evidence that disclosure of information would pose a real danger to the safety of individuals, there is a strong public interest in withholding the information. Moreover, we would expect to consult individuals concerned about any requests that appear to give rise to concerns over personal safety.
19. Will the poultry register information be used to cull flocks if there is an outbreak of avian flu?
Our main aim is to protect GB flocks and prevent diseases from spreading. The register will help prevent and limit the spread of disease, as it will contribute to enhancing contingency planning. By knowing where flocks are we can identify which flocks are at risk and where resource should be placed. We will be able to contact relevant keepers immediately and provide advice on measures that will reduce the risk of their birds catching the disease. It is the responsibility of the poultry owner to protect their flocks by implementing appropriate biosecurity measures.
For those premises on which an outbreak has occurred we will take whatever action is required to contain the disease. This may include culling birds. If this need arises then it will be carried out by the State Veterinary Service staff, and will be conducted whether or not a premises is registered on the GB Poultry Register. However, the register will allow us to act more speedily, which should reduce the impact of any disease outbreak on other bird keepers.
20. How much does registration cost the poultry keeper?
The cost will be the time taken to supply us with the information that they are legally required to provide through whichever registration route they prefer.
21. What if poultry keepers or owners do not register?
The majority of poultry keepers has recognised the benefits of registering their birds. In addition, the poultry industry has been very supportive of this initiative. However, it is a legal requirement to register so failure to do so is an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment. This will be enforced by Local Authorities unless the Secretary of State directs that he will enforce instead. Defra is working closely with Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS). Guidance has been provided for local authorities to implement this policy.
Response to the poultry register has been very positive, and we have worked very closely with a wide range of poultry keeping interest groups to promote it. Our policy will be one of persuasion, and encouraging poultry keepers of the benefits of registering their flocks.
If it becomes clear that poultry keepers are refusing to meet their statutory obligations to register, we will review our enforcement policy with LACORS.
Page reviewed: 10 January,
2007
Page last modified: 29 November 2006