Consultations on plans to implement Council Directive 92/119/EEC on the control of Swine Vesicular Disease

Dear Consultee,

This letter is to tell you about our plans for introducing new legislation for the control of Swine Vesicular Disease (SVD) and to invite your views and comments on the attached proposals and the Impact Assessment by Friday 6th February 2009.  A link to this consultation exercise is at:  www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/svd-control/index.htm

Background

Our legislation must implement the European Union legislation for the control of SVD.  This is Council Directive 92/119/EEC as amended by Commission Directive 2007/10/EC. 

However, our existing disease control legislation for Swine Vesicular Disease is the Swine Vesicular Disease Order 1972. The effect of this Order is to apply the control measures appropriate for the control of foot-and-mouth disease to an outbreak of SVD. The most recent 2006 controls for foot-and-mouth disease are quite inappropriate for the control of SVD (for example, the restrictions in the control areas around infected premises are different and the cleansing and disinfection of infected premises is harder as the SVD virus is more persistent that the FMD virus). We have therefore prepared new Regulations to implement the Community SVD legislation.

The Controls

Directive 92/119/EEC (as amended) maintains the fundamental principles of disease control as in most other Directives and domestic legislation dealing with exotic notifiable diseases. These include:

  • notification of suspect disease,
  • investigation by the competent authority,
  • stamping out of disease on infected premises and restricting the premises until the virus has been removed, and
  • the imposition of movement controls to reduce the risk of the spread of disease. 

Our proposal for implementing the EU rules and on which we are now consulting in draft is The Swine Vesicular Disease Regulations 2009, made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.

Scope of consultation

The Commission has given no indication that is intends to review the EU Directive.  Whilst you may have views on the EU measures, they are not appropriate to this consultation which only relates to our proposal for implementing them.

Defra is conducting this consultation with regard to England only. Separate consultations on similar provisions will be undertaken in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Implementation options

One option would be to continue to rely on present controls.  However, this has been ruled out on the basis that the current legislation does not implement the provisions of Directive 92/119/EEC and, in some respects, goes well beyond what is required by it. It is therefore not proportionate, transparent or an effective way of implementing disease control measures for SVD.  This option would not implement Directive 2007/10/EC.

The only other realistic option is to implement Directive 92/119/EEC, as amended. 

The Proposed Regulations

In drafting the Regulations, our aim has been to implement the Directive whilst maintaining the most flexibility it affords for the control of SVD. 

However, there are limitations to the flexibility allowed.  For example, the Directive imposes strict controls over certain movements once disease is confirmed and a considerable time must elapse before certain movements may be permitted in the zones (see Schedules 2 and 3). This is a key issue and one with which the pig industry is familiar as other pig disease EU measures are similar (classical swine fever and African swine fever).

We have provided for vaccination measures in Part 4 (Regulations 19 – 21), however, it should be noted that there is no SVD vaccine available for use in England and we are not aware of any under development.  We have included vaccination provisions as these are provided for in the Directive and we need to avoid criticism for under implementation even though the provisions, at least for the time being, will not be used.

Impact Assessment

I attach an Impact Assessment on the proposed legislation. The Assessment more fully describes the purpose and effect of the new legislation.

We believe that the proposed new Regulations are a significant improvement on the old legislation. 

Questions

General

As indicated above, we are not seeking comments on the EU legislation we are implementing although we appreciate you may have views you wish to make known.  However, we are seeking any views or comments you may have on the way we are proposing to implement the EU measures.

In particular:

  • Have any practical implementation options been left out?
  • Do you have any comment on the analysis and the costs as set out in the Impact Assessment?
  • Do you have comments on the way we have implemented any parts of the EU provisions?
Other Possible Measures

In addition, there are two control measures not provided for in the EU legislation and which we could add to our Regulations. These are a Temporary Control Zone and a Restriction Zone.

In the event of a suspect vesicular disease in pigs, we would assume the possibility of foot-and mouth disease being present and impose a Temporary Restriction Zone under the foot-and-mouth legislation.  Animal movements on and off premises is halted in the Temporary Control Zone around a suspect premises (typically 3km radius) to help reduce the possible spread of disease. If SVD were subsequently confirmed, the controls would switch to the SVD Regulations. 

However, we may for example have a suspect vesicular case in an area free of disease but with the premises having a strong link to an SVD infected premises in another part of the country such that our suspicion is immediately of SVD rather than FMD.

Do you think the Secretary of State should have powers to impose a Temporary Control Zone in cases where SVD is suspected on a premises, containing measures to help prevent the possible spread of disease?

Some disease control measures (eg foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza) provide for a Restriction Zone which can be national in extent.  Such a zone can be imposed for example if we have indication of wide spread of disease and we want to bring movements to a standstill for a short period while the extent of spread is understood.  This is different from a Temporary Control Zone.  The Temporary Control Zone is small in area and is to prevent possible disease spread from around a suspect premises. A Restriction Zone is wide in extent and its purpose is to stop movements while the extent of possible disease spread across the country is better understood. We would not expect Restricted Zone measures to exist for more than a few days unless there was firm veterinary justification to indicate otherwise.

Do you think the Secretary of State should have powers to impose a Restriction Zone where possible disease spread across the country needs to be better understood containing measures to help prevent the possible further spread of disease?

There may be powers other than those in the proposed Regulations that you think the Secretary of State should take in order better to control disease or reduce the risk of spread of disease.

Are there any powers or measures not in the proposed new legislation which you think should be added in order better to control disease or reduce the risk of spread of disease?

The Directive requires the slaughter of all pigs on infected premises.  More recent Community disease control directives recognise that certain categories of susceptible animals such as rare breeds should be spared if that is possible without jeopardising the control of the disease (eg classical swine fever, African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza).  Essentially, there would have to be facilities on the premises that could be used as an isolation unit with strict biosecurity protocols associated with it.  The SVD Directive was adopted at a time when exemptions from slaughter for exceptional categories were not provided for.

Do you agree that we should include a provision for the Secretary of State to exempt exceptional categories of pigs if it can be done without jeopardising the control of the disease (Regulation 9)?

Council Directive 92/119/EEC requires that pigs that have been slaughtered in a slaughterhouse following the identification of antibodies to swine vesicular disease (but no virus) to be slaughtered separately from other pigs and for the meat from such pigs to be restricted to the national market.  We propose to amend the Products of Animal Origin (Disease Control) (England) Regulations 2009 to require the separation of such pigs at slaughter and to require the marking of their meat with a national mark.

At the same time, we propose to correct some other technical errors in the Regulations.

Responding to the consultation

Please send any views or comments you may have on the areas we have sought comment or any other area of our proposed implementation of the Directive to:

Defra
Disease legislation, biosecurity and rabies team
Food and Farming Group
Area 5A
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR
020 7238 6212
email: ExoticDisease.Mailbox@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Fax – 020 7238 6105

The deadline for comments is Friday 6th February 2009.

Transparency policy

In line with Defra's policy of openness, at the end of the consultation period copies of the responses we receive may be made publicly available through the Defra Information Resource Centre, Lower Ground Floor, Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR. The information they contain may also be published in a summary of responses.

If you do not consent to this, you must clearly request that your response be treated confidentially. Any confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system in email responses will not be treated as such a request. You should also be aware that there may be circumstances in which Defra will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations.

The Information Resource Centre will supply copies of consultation responses to personal callers or in response to telephone or email requests (tel: 020 7238 6575, email: defra.library@defra.gsi.gov.uk Wherever possible, personal callers should give the library at least 24 hours' notice of their requirements. An administrative charge will be made to cover photocopying and postage costs.

Comments or complaints about the consultation process (as opposed to comments about the issue which is the subject of the consultation) should be addressed to Defra’s Consultation Co-ordinator, Area 7B Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR or e-mail consultation.coordinator@defra.gsi.gov.uk

We look forward to receiving your views on this consultation package and would be grateful if you would pass this consultation letter on to any other organisation you think would be interested. 

Yours sincerely

Julian West

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

 

Page published: 4 November 2008