Regulation 7

SCHEDULE 4 Notification of movement or death

Notification of movement

1.—(1) A keeper must notify the National Assembly within three days of any movement of cattle on to or off a holding—

(a) using the National Assembly’s interactive website;

(b) using software approved by the National Assembly; or

(c) in writing, using the movement card provided by the National Assembly,

and must provide all the required information.

(2) Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.

Notification of death

2.—(1) When an animal is slaughtered in a slaughterhouse, the occupier of the slaughterhouse must notify the death by completing the death details in the passport and giving it to the official veterinarian or his or her representative at the time of slaughter.

(2) If an animal is slaughtered outside a slaughterhouse but sent to a slaughterhouse for dressing, the keeper must complete the death details in the passport and send it with the animal to the slaughterhouse, and the occupier of the slaughterhouse must notify the death by giving the passport to the official veterinarian or his or her representative when the animal arrives at the slaughterhouse.

(3) In any other case, when an animal dies or is killed the keeper must notify the death by completing the death details in the passport and sending it to the National Assembly within seven days.

(4) If an animal does not have a cattle passport, the keeper must notify its death to the National Assembly in writing within seven days, and include the ear tag number, the date of death and the holding on which it died.

(5) In this paragraph “official veterinarian” means the person appointed as such by the Food Standards Agency.

(6) Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.

Regulation 8

SCHEDULE 5 Records

Making a record

1.—(1) In accordance with Article 7(1), first indent and Article 7(4) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 (keeping an up-to-date register) any person who fails to complete a register in accordance with this paragraph, is guilty of an offence.

(2) He or she must complete it at the following times—

(a) in the case of the movement of an animal on or off a holding, within 36 hours of the movement;

(b) in the case of the birth of an animal in a dairy herd, within seven days of the birth;

(c) in the case of the birth of an animal otherwise than in a dairy herd, within 30 days of the birth;

(d) in the case of the death of an animal, within 7 days of the death;

(e) in the case of a replacement ear tag where the ear tag umber is changed, within 36 hours of the replacement.

(3) The register must contain the information in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No. 911/2004 and, in addition, the identification of the dam (in the case of embryo transfer, the surrogate dam and, if known, genetic dam)(29) (in the case of an animal born before 1 April 1995 that does not have an ear tag, the identification mark must be recorded instead of the ear tag number).

Provision of information

2.  Any person who fails to comply with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000. (provision of information) is guilty of an offence.

Retention of records

3.—(1) For the purposes of Article 7(4) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000, the register must be kept for 10 years in the case of a farm and 3 years in any other case, in both cases from the end of the calendar year in which the last entry was made; and any record made under the Bovine Animals (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1995 must be kept for the same period.

(2) Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Earlier legislation

These Regulations revoke and remake insofar as they apply in relation to Wales the provisions of—

(a) the Bovine Animals (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1995(30);

(b) the Cattle Identification Regulations 1998(31);

(c) the Cattle Database Regulations 1998(32);

(d) the Cattle (Identification of Older Animals) (Wales) Regulations 2000(33).

together with the amendments to those instruments.

Principal changes

The principal changes are as follows.

The Regulations now allow bison to be tagged up to 9 months after birth (paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 1).

They create an offence of transferring eartags between animals (paragraph 4(5) of Schedule 1).

They no longer permit the use of temporary calf passports.

They permit electronic registration of cattle (paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 2).

They change the £50 fee for replacement passports to a fee reflecting the cost of issue (paragraph 4 of Schedule 3).

They simplify the provisions on records (Schedule 5).

The Regulations

The Regulations enforce—

• Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council (establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No. 820/97(34));

• Commission Regulation (EC) No. 494/98 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 820/97 as regards the application of minimum administrative sanctions in the framework of the system for the identification and registration of bovine animals(35);

• Commission Regulation (EC) No. 911/2004 (implementing Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards ear tags, passports and holding registers(36));and

• Commission Regulation (EC) No. 644/2005 (authorising a special identification system for bovine animals kept for cultural and historical purposes on approved premises as provided for in Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council(37)).

They provide for notification of a holding to the National Assembly if cattle are kept there (regulation 3).

They make provision for eartags (regulation 4 and Schedule 1), registration of cattle (regulation 5 and Schedule 2), passports (regulation 6 and Schedule 3) and notification of movement and death (regulation 7 and Schedule 4).

They provide for records to be kept in the form specified in Schedule 5.

They provide for the enforcement of the Regulations (Part 4). They are enforced by the local authority (regulation 16).

Breach of the Regulations is an offence, punishable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment not exceeding three months or to both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

A full regulatory appraisal of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the National Assembly for Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ.