Additional Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) control measures are likely to be required for farmers from Northern Ireland who export breeding cattle or cattle to be finished to the Republic of Ireland.
This is according to Animal Health and Welfare NI (AHWNI), who advise that new measures have been introduced in EU legislation to promote the competitiveness and trading of animals by preventing and eradicating specific animal diseases, including BVD.
This will be implemented in light of the progress that has been made in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) BVD programme, and due to the fact that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) intends to apply for official recognition of the programme in 2022.
Northern Ireland’s livestock industry, through the BVD Implementation Group, has shared that it continues to make requests to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) for a range of measures to be supplied under current and new legislative provisions.
BVD vaccinated animals will still be permitted to move until BVD-free status is achieved by the authorities in the ROI. But once country-level freedom is achieved, BVD vaccinated animals will no longer be eligible for export.
According to AHWNI, other restrictions on vaccination protocols may yet be introduced.
LSL News.