PART 3 Miscellaneous

Surveillance

19.  An officer of the Welsh Ministers may enter any premises on which animals are kept (whether or not in a control zone or restricted zone) for the purposes of monitoring or surveillance for the bluetongue virus or antibodies to the bluetongue virus.

Vaccination against bluetongue

20.  No person may vaccinate an animal against bluetongue unless authorised by the Welsh Ministers.

Powers of inspectors in case of default

21.  A notice served under this Order must be complied with at the expense of the person on whom it is served, and if it is not complied with an inspector may arrange for it to be complied with at the expense of that person.

General powers of inspectors

22.  An inspector or officer of the Welsh Ministers who enters premises under this Order may take with him or her —

(a) a vehicle;

(b) any equipment; and

(c) such other person as is appropriate.

Damage

23.  No person may—

(a) damage, interfere with or remove any traps set for midges under this Order; or

(b) deface, obliterate or remove any mark made by any person under this Order.

Licences

24.—(1) A person moving anything under the authority of a specific licence granted under this Order must—

(a) keep the licence or a copy of it with him or her at all times during the licensed movement;

(b) on demand by a veterinary inspector or other officer of the Welsh Ministers or by an inspector, produce the licence or copy and allow a copy or extract to be taken.

(2) A person moving anything under the authority of a general licence granted under this Order must—

(a) carry, at all times during the movement, a consignment note that contains details of—

(i) what is being transported, including the quantity;

(ii) the date of the movement;

(iii) the name of the consignor;

(iv) the address of the premises from which the movement started;

(v) the name of the consignee;

(vi) the address of the premises of destination;

(b) on demand by a veterinary inspector or other officer of the Welsh Ministers or by an inspector, produce the consignment note and allow a copy or extract to be taken.

Licences granted outside Wales

25.  Licences granted in England or Scotland for activities which could be licensed in Wales under this Order have effect in Wales as if they were licences granted under this Order.

Provision of assistance

26.—(1) Any person required to give reasonable assistance or information to a person acting under this Order must, unless he or she has reasonable cause, do so without delay.

(2) No person is to provide information which he or she knows to be false or misleading to a person acting under this Order.

Offences by bodies corporate

27.—(1) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Order, and that offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of—

(a) any director, manager, secretary or other similar person of the body corporate; or

(b) any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,

that person is guilty of the offence as well as the body corporate.

(2) For the purposes of this article, “director”, in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate.

Enforcement

28.—(1) This Order is enforced by the local authority.

(2) The Welsh Ministers may direct, in relation to cases of a particular description or to particular cases, that they will enforce this Order instead.

Revocation

29.  The Bluetongue (Wales) Order 2007(7) is revoked.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order continues to implement Council Directive 2000/75/EC laying down specific provisions for the control and eradication of bluetongue. It revokes and remakes with changes the Bluetongue Order (Wales) 2007 in order to enforce Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1266/2007.

The changes are that, following confirmation of bluetongue on any premises, a veterinary inspector may serve a notice removing the requirement for notification of further cases, and removing some or all of the restrictions on those premises (article 7). It also corrects an error in the previous Order concerning premises in one or more zones (article 12).

The Order provides that references to the Commission Regulation are references to it as amended from time to time.

Part 2 of the Order provides for the reporting of symptoms of bluetongue and for the establishment of control zones and restricted zones. Unlike in the previous Order, these zones can now be of a size appropriate for the control of bluetongue. It controls the movement of animals from those zones. It also provides for the separation of a restricted zone into a protection zone and a surveillance zone, and controls movement between these zones.

It provides for surveillance for bluetongue (article 19) and prohibits vaccination against bluetongue without the consent of the Welsh Ministers (article 20).

Part 3 makes provision for enforcement.

It is enforced by the local authority.

Failure to comply with this Order is an offence under section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for this Order.