The Swine Vesicular Disease (Wales) Regulations 2009
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2009/1372 |
2009 No. 1372 (W.135)
ANIMALS, WALESANIMAL HEALTH
The Swine Vesicular Disease (Wales) Regulations 2009
Made 8th June 2009
Laid before the National Assembly for Wales 9th June 2009
Coming into force 30th June 2009
The Welsh Ministers, who are designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community, make these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by that section.
PART 1
Introduction
Title, application and commencement
1. The title of these Regulations is The Swine Vesicular Disease (Wales) Regulations 2009; they apply in relation to Wales and come into force on 30 June 2009.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations—
“carcase” (“carcas”) means a carcase or part of a carcase of a pig;
“infected premises” (“mangre heintiedig” or “mangre wedi ei heintio”) means any premises declared as such by the Welsh Ministers under Part 3;
“inspector” (“arolygydd”) and “veterinary inspector” (“arolygydd milfeddygol”) mean persons appointed as such under the Animal Health Act 19813;
“livestock” (“da byw”) means hoofed animals other than horses;
“local authority” (“awdurdod lleol”) means in relation to an area the county council or county borough council for that area;
“pig” (“mochyn”) means any animal of the suidae family;
“premises” (“mangre”) includes any place.
References to occupier
3.—(1) Any notice required or authorised under these Regulations to be served on the occupier of premises may be served on a person appearing to the person serving the notice to have day-to-day responsibility for the premises or for any pigs on the premises (see regulation 32 for further provision as to notices).
(2) Where a notice has been served on a person referred to in paragraph (1), any reference in these Regulations to the occupier of those premises is a reference to that person.
Exemptions
4.—(1) These Regulations do not apply to—
(a)
(a) anything done under the terms of a licence granted under the Specified Animal Pathogens (Wales) Order 20084, or
(b)
(b) any border inspection post, quarantine centre or quarantine facility approved for the purposes of the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) (Wales) Regulations 20065.
(2) Parts 3 and 4 do not apply in any period during which action is being taken under the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (Wales) Order 20066.
PART 2
Notification of suspicion of swine vesicular disease
Notification requirements
5.—(1) Any person in possession or charge of, or who inspects or examines, a pig or carcase and who suspects the pig to be infected or the carcase to be contaminated with swine vesicular disease virus must immediately notify the Welsh Ministers.
(2) Any person who examines a sample taken from a pig or carcase and who—
(a)
(a) suspects that the pig is infected with swine vesicular disease virus or the carcase is contaminated with that virus, or
(b)
(b) detects evidence of antibodies to, or antigens of, that virus,
must immediately notify the Welsh Ministers.
(3) Failure to comply with this regulation is an offence.
PART 3
Suspicion and confirmation of swine vesicular disease
CHAPTER 1
Scope of Part 3 and initial controls
Scope of Part 3
6. This Part applies to all premises other than slaughterhouses (for which see Part 4).
Initial controls following notification
7.—(1) This regulation applies where the Welsh Ministers are notified under regulation 5(1) of a suspect pig or carcase and a veterinary inspector considers that further investigation relating to the possible presence of swine vesicular disease is necessary.
(2) The veterinary inspector must orally or otherwise inform the person reporting the suspect pig or carcase that further investigation is necessary, and the controls in paragraph (3) then apply.
(3) The controls are that, except as permitted in writing by a veterinary inspector, the person in possession or charge of a notified pig or carcase must ensure that—
(a)
(a) the notified pig or carcase is not moved from the premises where it is,
(b)
(b) no other pig or carcase or any thing likely to spread swine vesicular disease virus is moved from or to those premises, and
(c)
(c) any person who has been in contact with any pig or carcase on the premises, or been on any part of the premises that may be contaminated with swine vesicular disease virus, takes all necessary biosecurity precautions to reduce the risk of spreading swine vesicular disease virus before leaving the premises,
and failure to do so is an offence.
(4) Any controls imposed under this regulation continue to apply until—
(a)
(a) a veterinary inspector serves a notice under these Regulations designating the premises as suspect premises, or
(b)
(b) a veterinary inspector confirms (orally or otherwise) that the presence of swine vesicular disease virus on the premises is not suspected.
CHAPTER 2
Action on suspicion of disease and declaration of infected premises
Imposing measures on suspicion of disease
8.—(1) An inspector must act in accordance with this regulation on suspicion that—
(a)
(a) a pig that is or has been infected with swine vesicular disease virus is on any premises (whether or not following a notification under these Regulations), or
(b)
(b) premises are contaminated with swine vesicular disease virus.
(2) The inspector must—
(a)
(a) serve a notice on the occupier designating those premises as suspect premises and imposing the measures in Schedule 1, and
(b)
(b) ensure that warning signs prohibiting entry are erected at suitable points around the premises.
(3) A veterinary inspector must begin an epidemiological inquiry to try to establish at least—
(a)
(a) the length of time that swine vesicular disease virus may have existed on the premises,
(b)
(b) the origin of that virus,
(c)
(c) the identification of other premises contaminated with that virus from the same source,
(d)
(d) the movement of any person or thing that could have carried that virus to or from the premises, and
(e)
(e) the possibility that pigs living in the wild may be involved in the spread of the virus,
and must continue the inquiry until these matters have been established so far as is practicable or the possibility of disease has been discounted.
Measures following suspicion — non-contact premises
9.—(1) This regulation applies where a veterinary inspector suspects that swine vesicular disease virus exists on any premises but this suspicion does not arise out of the fact that the premises have an epidemiological link with infected premises.
(2) Following service of a notice on suspicion of swine vesicular disease, a veterinary inspector must take all reasonable steps to establish whether or not the suspicion is correct.
(3) These steps must include taking samples from pigs on the premises (if there are any) and having them tested.
(4) When premises do not have pigs on them at the time of the notice, the veterinary inspector may take samples from the pigs or carcases that have been on the premises, and may take environmental samples from the premises.
(5) If the tests carried out under paragraphs (3) and (4) demonstrate that—
(a)
(a) swine vesicular disease virus is in a pig or on the premises, or
(b)
(b) the premises contain pigs that are seropositive for swine vesicular disease and in addition those pigs or other pigs on the premises show clinical signs of swine vesicular disease,
the Welsh Ministers must serve a notice declaring the premises to be infected premises.
(6) If the tests carried out under paragraph (3) demonstrate that there are seropositive pigs on the premises, but none of the pigs on the premises shows clinical signs of swine vesicular disease, the Welsh Ministers must—
(a)
(a) continue to monitor the premises and take further samples and test those samples, with an interval of 28 days at least between the samples taken when disease was first suspected and the samples taken under this sub-paragraph,
(b)
(b) declare the premises to be infected premises if the test on the further samples shows that swine vesicular disease virus exists in a pig on the premises,
(c)
(c) otherwise ensure that all pigs that have tested seropositive are—
(i) killed and destroyed under the supervision of an inspector, or
(ii) slaughtered in a slaughterhouse designated for the purpose by the Welsh Ministers where they are kept and slaughtered separately from other pigs,
and the Welsh Ministers must remove the measures in Schedule 1 once all seropositive pigs have been killed or removed from the premises.
(7) If the tests carried out under paragraphs (3) and (4) demonstrate that there is no swine vesicular disease virus in a pig or on the premises and that there are no seropositive pigs on the premises the Welsh Ministers must remove the measures in Schedule 1.
Measures following suspicion — contact premises
10.—(1) This regulation applies where a veterinary inspector suspects that swine vesicular disease virus exists on any premises and this suspicion arises out of the fact that the premises have an epidemiological link with infected premises.
(2) If any pig on the suspect premises shows clinical signs of swine vesicular disease the Welsh Ministers must serve a notice declaring the suspect premises to be infected premises.
(3) If no pig on the suspect premises shows clinical signs of swine vesicular disease the Welsh Ministers must assess the risk of swine vesicular disease virus being present on the suspect premises, taking account of the degree of...
To continue reading
Request your trial