Animal gatherings
(for England and Wales)
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Good standards of biosecurity on farms, at animal gatherings (which includes collection centres) and on livestock vehicles must be maintained to reduce the risk of spread of disease.
Livestock markets, shows and collection centres are now known collectively as ‘animal gatherings’. Such events must be licensed by the Department for the Environment Food and Rurals Affairs (Defra). In Wales, events are licensed by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency on behalf of Welsh Assembly Government.
A new biosecurity strategy came into force in March 2010. Whilst the risks from diseases such as Foot & Mouth remains the same as before, the methods of mitigating and dealing with those risks have been subject to a comprehensive review. The new regime still mitigates those risks to the same extent, but responsibility for some biosecurity measures has now been handed over to the industry for them to oversee. However, enforcement authorities can still take action if there is a biosecurity risk at a gathering.
