Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Proposal to remove the requirement to include some information in the holding register of keepers of bovine animals in England Consultation on a Red Tape Challenge proposal to reduce the regulatory burden for livestock keepers August 2014 Contents Part A: Background .............................................................................................................. 1 1. Purpose of the consultation .................................................................................... 1 2. The current legislative base and the Red Tape Challenge ..................................... 1 Part B: Proposal for change ................................................................................................. 2 3. Details of the proposal ............................................................................................ 2 4. Expected costs and benefits ................................................................................... 2 Part C: Tell us what you think .............................................................................................. 3 5. Your comments on the following questions are invited: .......................................... 3 Part A: Background 1. Purpose of the consultation 1.1 The Government is committed to reduce the regulatory burden on the farming industry. Following a Red Tape Challenge on agriculture, this consultation seeks views on a proposal to remove in England the requirement for keepers of bovine animals to include in their holding register details on the identification of the mother (dam) for bovine animals brought on to their holding. The requirement would remain in force for bovine animals born on the holding. 1.2 We would welcome views on the issues covered by this consultation by Friday 31 October. Details of how to respond are set out in Part C of this document. 2. The current legislative base and the Red Tape Challenge 2.1 EU Regulation 1760/20001 sets out the requirements for the identification and registration of bovine animals (cattle, bison and buffalo). This Regulation imposes a number of obligations on keepers of bovine animals. A keeper is any person responsible for animals, whether on a permanent or on a temporary basis. One of the provisions in EU Regulation 1760/2000 requires all keepers of bovine animals except transporters to keep an up-to-date holding register. This includes farmers, market and slaughterhouse operators and other holdings where animals are gathered such as collection centres. 2.2 EU legislation requires that the holding register includes, for each bovine animal, its identification code, its date of birth, sex and breed or colour of coat. Additionally, in England the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007 include a requirement for the holding register to include the mother’s (dam) identification of each bovine animal, due to the high incidence of BSE at the time the original EU legislation was implemented. This led to a world-wide trade ban for UK exports of beef and live cattle in 1996. Information on the dam of each bovine animal was included as a precautionary measure in stopping the spread of BSE, as transmission from dam to calf was believed to be one of the methods of transmission of the disease. 2.3 In July 2013 Defra opened a consultation as part of the Red Tape Challenge in Agriculture, asking the public for views on how the regulatory burden could be reduced in England. The National Farmers Union (NFU) proposed that the 1 References to legislation in this document are references to the legislation as amended from time to time. 1 requirement to include the dam identification details in the holding register should be removed, as it gold plated EU requirements. 2.4 In addition, a number of keepers keep their holding registers electronically and download the information required in the holding register from the barcode in cattle passports for bovine animals that moved on to their holding. However, the barcode does not include the dam identification information, due to lack of space; therefore, keepers of bovine animals have the additional burden of entering this information manually even in cases where they have electronic holding registers. Part B: Proposal for change 3. Details of the proposal 3.1 This consultation invites views on the proposal to amend the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007 to remove in England the requirement for holding registers to include the dam’s identification for each bovine animal that is moved on to the holding. This reflects the fact that this requirement goes beyond EU requirements and that dam identification details are included in the central database. When the birth of a bovine animal is registered with the British Cattle Movement Service, the information is recorded in the Cattle Tracing System. This includes the dam information of each bovine animal. 3.2 The information is also no longer deemed essential for BSE control purposes. UK BSE incidence is very low, with 3 cases in 2013 from a peak of over 37,000 cases in 1992. So far in 2014 there have been no BSE cases confirmed in the UK. The European Union lifted the ban on British beef exports in May 2006 and the UK has been officially categorised internationally as ‘Controlled BSE Risk’ since May 2008. 3.3 We are not proposing to change the requirement for such information to be recorded in the holding register for bovine animals born on the holding, to maintain the robustness of the animal identification and tracing system. This is because dairy calves are usually separated from their dams before the deadline to register the birth to the database and, in that case, it is important that the dam information is recorded in the holding register early or farmers risk having their applications for cattle passports rejected if the information is incorrect. 3.4 Subject to the result of this consultation, the amendment to the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007 to remove this requirement would take effect on 6 April 2015. 4. Expected costs and benefits 4.1 This proposal is not expected to generate any costs to keepers or Government. 2 4.2 This proposal is expected to reduce the regulatory burden on keepers of bovine animals as it reduces the time required to maintain their holding registers. As the dam identification is not included in the barcode of cattle passports, keepers of bovine animals need to enter manually the information on their holding register for each bovine animal that moves on to their holding. We estimate the time saved by this proposal would be an average of 15 seconds for each bovine animal that moves on to a holding. Part C: Tell us what you think 5. Your comments on the following questions are invited: i. Do you agree with the proposal to remove the requirement for keepers of bovine animals to include in their holding register details on the identification of the dam for bovine animals brought on to the holding? ii. Are there other potential costs and benefits we should consider? iii. Do you agree with the estimate of 15 seconds saved for each bovine animal that moves on to a holding? 5.1 A list of interested organisations Defra has approached directly for views will be published on the Defra section of the Government web site. We welcome views from all interested parties or individuals by 31 October 2014. 5.2 You can respond to this consultation in one of three ways. Online by completing the questionnaire at consult.defra.gov.uk/farming/reducing-information-requirements-for-theholding/ Email to cattleID@defra.gsi.gov.uk Post to: Livestock Identification Team Area 5B, Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR 5.3 Our preferred method is online because it is the fastest and most cost-effective way for us to collate, analyse and summarise responses. 3 5.4 Responses received by the deadline will be analysed and a summary will be placed on the consultations section of the Government web site. 5.5 In line with Defra’s policy of openness, copies of the responses we receive will be publically available, at the end of the consultation period, for at least 6 months. 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 and email response 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 release information to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations. 4 © Crown copyright 2014 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v.2. To view this licence visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/ or email PSI@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at: Email: cattleID@defra.gsi.gov.uk Livestock Identification Team Area 5B, Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR This document can be viewed at and responses submitted to the questions therein via the Defra Citizens Space Consultation Hub at: consult.defra.gov.uk/farming/reducing-information-requirements-for-the-holding/ 5