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Extension to pet movement derogation proposed

   

NEWS RELEASE

Ref: 137/09
Date: 15 June 2009

The Government welcomes today’s announcement that the European Commission will propose an extension to the UK and four other Member States’ current pet movement requirements until December 2011.

The Chief Veterinary Officer, Nigel Gibbens, said:

“Extending our transitional rules will allow us to benefit from the outcome of the current EU vaccination campaign. This is working to control rabies in wildlife in the few EU Member States still affected and so bring the rabies risk across Europe to a very low level. The successful control of rabies across Europe should pave the way for the UK to move to modernised and harmonised pet movement rules across the EU.

“This additional 18 month period will give time to further review controls to ensure that they are practical, effective and proportionate to the risk of rabies and the specific threats to human health that they are designed to protect against.

“No rules can protect against all diseases that pets might catch when abroad. We will continue to work with the veterinary profession and others to ensure that pet owners understand that travel might bring risks to the health and welfare of their pets, in the same way that they consider any risks to their own health.”

The proposal still needs to be agreed by the European Parliament and Council, which will discuss it in the coming months.

Notes to editors

1.   The UK, along with four other Member States (Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Malta), benefits from a derogation from EU Regulation 998/2003. This allows it to retain stricter controls than other ‘harmonised’ countries – for example requiring pets to wait 6-months before entering or re-entering the UK following vaccination and blood testing, and treating dogs and cats against tapeworms and ticks that could transmit diseases to people. The derogation is currently due to end on 30 June 2010.

2.   Rabies incidence across Europe has reduced significantly in recent years, in large part due to EU-sponsored vaccination programmes. For example, across EU Member States there were 2,679 recorded cases in domestic animals in 1990, and 318 in 2007. Apart from isolated incidents, rabies is now confined to a few Member States in the east of the EU, largely Romania and Latvia  (Source: WHO Rabies Bulletin Europe)

3.   Guidance on the Pet Movements System and on the best way to travel responsibly with pets is available at www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm

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Page published: 15 June 2009