CONDITIONS
1. The specified premises, the workforce and all procedures, shall be operated at all
times under the direction and control of the approved centre veterinarian.
2. Semen for processing may only be collected by a veterinary surgeon or a person
operating under the direction of a veterinary surgeon.
3. The Licensee shall (a) carry out or permit the performance of such tests and evaluations of semen
as the Department may direct from time to time;
(b) ensure that products of animal origin used in the processing of semen,
including additives or diluents, are obtained from sources which present no
animal health risk or are so treated prior to use that such risk is prevented.
(c) upon request notify the Department in writing of all additives used in the
processing of semen and the method of application of such substances;
(d) each individual straw of semen must be clearly and indelibly marked in such
a way that the date of collection of the semen and the name of the
processing centre, as well as the breed and identification of the donor bull
can be established.
4. The Licensee shall ensure that –
(a) no bull which is not an approved bull or other animal which is not a teaser
animal shall be brought into the specified premises except with the written
consent of the Department;
(b) all approved bulls and teaser animals in the specified premises, and any
other animal admitted to the said premises with the written consent of the
Department under sub-paragraph (a), shall be subject to such tests,
examinations, inspections and treatments as the Department may direct in
writing from time to time;
(c) so far as is reasonably practicable, no persons other than the approved
veterinarian and such other employees as are required for the operation of
the animal accommodation in the specified premises, shall be admitted to the
animal accommodation, and where any other person is so admitted, maintain
a record comprising the person’s name and address, the date of the visit, the
times of entry to and exit from the premises, and the purpose of the visit;
(d) so far as is reasonably practicable, no person engaged in the handling of
approved bulls and of teaser animals in the specified premises, or of semen
collected and processed therein, or likely to come into contact with any
article, clothing, machinery or receptacle used in connection with the handling
of the aforementioned animals or the collection, processing and storage of
semen, or likely to enter any area in the specified premises in which
approved bulls and teaser animals are kept or in which semen is collected,
processed and stored, shall have come into contact with any ruminant animal
or swine during the preceding 12 hours, except in the case of such approved
bulls and teaser animals kept in the said premises and other animals present
with the written consent of the Department;
(e) so far as is reasonably practicable, no persons other than the approved
veterinarian and such other employees as are required for the operation of
the semen processing laboratory in the specified premises, shall be admitted
to that laboratory, and where any other person is so admitted, maintain a
record comprising the person’s name and address, the date of the visit, the
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times of entry to and exit from the said premises and the purpose of the visit;
and
(f) in the processing of semen nothing shall be added to any semen freezing
equipment or storage flask at the specified premises, except previously
unused liquid nitrogen.
5. The Licensee shall ensure that, except with the written consent of the Department (a) no semen shall be distributed from the processing centre where this is an
infected place or is located within an infected area;
(b) no semen shall be admitted to the processing centre from an infected place
or an infected area; and
(c) no semen shall be distributed from the processing centre where this is
located outside an infected area to any premises located inside an infected
area.
6. Semen may be collected on-farm from a bull which has not been approved by the
Department for use in artificial insemination and may be evaluated on the licensed
specified premises provided that –
(a) the centre veterinarian is satisfied that the semen does not present a health
risk to the animals or affect the health status of the semen present in the
centre;
(b) it is carried out as a separate operation;
(c) the semen is destroyed immediately after it has been evaluated; and
(d) all equipment, apparatus and materials used in the evaluation of such semen
are either destroyed or cleansed and disinfected after use.
7. Semen not collected in an approved processing centre may not be frozen or stored
(processes (e) and (f ) in the definition of processing).
8. The Licensee shall ensure that (a) where so directed by the Department in writing, any approved bull, teaser
animal or other animal in the specified premises shall be removed from the
said premises as soon as practicable thereafter;
(b) where an approved bull dies, whether or not in the specified premises, and
semen from that bull is stored at any premises operated by the Licensee, that
semen shall not be distributed by the Licensee by any means except with the
written consent of the Department having regard to any post-mortem
examination of the bull;
(c) where so directed by the Department in writing, remove from the specified
premises and destroy or cause to be destroyed any semen to which that
direction relates; and
(d) semen shall not be distributed from the specified premises except (i) in the case of semen which is processed by all the processes listed at (a)
- (e) in the definition of “processing” in the Regulations, directly to a
licensed quarantine storage depot where it shall be stored in quarantine
for a period of 30 days or such other period as the Department may
direct in writing;
(ii) in the case of semen which is processed by one or more of the
processes listed at (a) - (d) of the definition of “processing” in the
Regulations, directly to another licensed processing centre where the
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semen shall complete the remainder of the processes to sub-paragraph
(e) in the said definition.
9. The Licensee shall ensure that no food and beverages are consumed in the
processing centre except in the area of the premises designated for that purpose.
10. The Licensee shall ensure that the washing facilities provided separately in the
semen processing laboratory and the bull accommodation areas are used only by
employees working in those respective areas.
11. The Licensee shall maintain the processing centre premises and the equipment
therein in good condition and repair.
12. The Licensee shall adhere to all rules and procedures laid down by the
Department to prevent the spread of animal diseases.
13. The Licensee shall, in respect of each approved bull admitted to the specified
premises, maintain the following records (a) the name, breed and ear-tag number or other identification of the donor bull;
(b) the name and address of the owner of the bull;
(c) the dates on which the bull entered and left the premises;
(d) the date of collection and date of processing of each collection of semen
obtained from the bull;
(e) the number of straws filled after each collection;
(f) all checks carried out for diseases and vaccinations given;
(g) the date of despatch of each batch after freezing to a licensed quarantine
storage depot, the address of that depot and the name of that quarantine
storage depot licence holder and the identification marks of each individual
dose of semen involved; and
(h) the date, place and individual dose identification mark of any destruction
(including accidental loss or wastage) of any semen, and by whom it was
destroyed and the place and method by which such destruction took place.
14. The Licensee shall retain the records referred to in paragraph 13 for a period of 2
years after the end of the financial year in which the last batch of semen is collected
from each approved bull.
15. The Licensee shall produce all records referred to in paragraph 13 for inspection at
any reasonable time by a person authorised in writing by the Department.
16. The Licensee shall provide all reasonable assistance to the Department during
inspections of the processing centre and provide such information as it may
reasonably request in relation to the processing centre.
17. Any proposed changes in the processing centre facilities must be notified to the
Department
NOTES:
The licence is not transferable.
The Department may at any time, by notice on the Licensee, modify, suspend or revoke
the licence including any condition subject to which it is granted.
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OFFENCES
Any person who fails to comply with any condition subject to which a licence has been
granted or contravenes any provisions of the Artificial Insemination of Cattle Regulations
(Northern Ireland) 1988 (as amended) or knowingly or recklessly makes a statement false
in a material particular for the purposes of obtaining a Licence shall be guilty of an offence
and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine currently not exceeding £5,000.
INTERPRETATION
In this licence “The Regulations” means the Artificial Insemination of Cattle Regulations (Northern
Ireland) 1988 as amended by the Artificial Insemination of Cattle (Amendment)
Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 and the Artificial Insemination of Cattle
(Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005;
“The Directive” means Council Directive 88/407/EEC laying down the animal health
requirements applicable to intra- Community trade in and import of deep frozen semen
of domestic animals of the bovine species as amended by Council Directives
90/120/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 93/60/EEC and 2003/43/EC;
“processing” means the processing of semen by means of (a) dilution;
(b) the addition of any substance which is calculated to prolong its natural life;
(c) the addition of any antibiotic or antimicrobial substance for the purpose of
promoting and safeguarding animal health;
(d) packaging it into straws;
(e) freezing;
(f) storing it after freezing in a quarantine storage depot for 30 days or such other
time as the Department may direct in writing;
or by means of one or more of the processes listed at (a), (b), (c) and (d) of this
definition;
“approved centre veterinarian” means a veterinary surgeon employed by the Licensee
and approved by the Department for the purpose of this Licence;
“infected area” means an area around infected premises declared by the Department
to be an infected area as a result of an outbreak of a notifiable epizootic disease to
which cattle, sheep or pigs are susceptible;
“infected place” means a place declared by the Department to be infected with a
notifiable epizootic disease to which cattle, sheep or pigs are susceptible;
“teaser animal” means a bovine animal which is used as an aid in the collection of
semen;
Other words and expressions have the same meaning as in the Regulations.
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