S.I. No. 42/2008 - Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (Registration of Poultry Premises) Order 2008

S.I. No. 42 of 2008

DISEASES OF ANIMALS ACT 1966 (REGISTRATION OF POULTRY PREMISES) ORDER 2008

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 29th February, 2008.

I, MARY COUGHLAN, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 3 and 13 of the Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (No. 6 of 1966) (as adapted by the Agriculture and Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2007 ( S.I. No. 705 of 2007 )), hereby order as follows—

1. This Order may be cited as the Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (Registration of Poultry Premises) Order 2008.

2. In this Order—

“poultry” means—

(a) birds reared or kept in captivity for breeding, the production of meat, eggs or other commercial products, for restocking supplies of game or for breeding these types of birds, and

(b) birds kept in the course of business or for sporting purposes.

“premises” includes any holding, building, structure or land (with or without buildings) where poultry are reared, kept or bred;

“sell” includes offer, expose or keep for sale, invite an offer to buy, or distribute for reward.

3. (1) The Minister shall cause to be established and maintained a register (“Register of Poultry Premises”) of all persons with premises for rearing, keeping or breeding of poultry and of persons having poultry under their control.

(2) A person shall not have poultry in his or her possession or under his or her control or sell or supply poultry unless that person’s name and details of the premises are entered in the Register of Poultry Premises.

(3) An application for registration shall be in a form that the Minister may determine and shall contain any information that the Minister may require.

(4) The Minister may divide the register into parts having regard to the purpose for which poultry is kept.

(5) The owner or person in charge of a premises entered in the Register of Poultry Premises shall furnish such information to the Minister as and when, and in a form that, the Minister may direct.

(6) A person or as appropriate a premises that immediately before the making of this Order—

(a) is licenced under the Poultry Hatcheries Regulations 1959 ( S.I. No. 122 of 1959 ),

(b) is approved under European Communities (Live Poultry and Hatching Eggs) Regulation 1992 ( S.I. No. 363 of 1992 ),

(c) is registered under Regulation 6 of the European Communities (Labelling and Marketing Standards for Poultrymeat) Regulations 2004 ( S.I. No. 42 of 2004 ),

(d) is registered under the Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (Registration of Poultry Premises) Order 2005 ( S.I. No. 677 of 2005 ), or

(e) is registered under Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Welfare of Farmed Animals) Regulations 2008 ( S.I. No. 14 of 2008 ),

is considered to be entered in the Register of Poultry Premises and subject to this Order.

(7) The Minister may remove the name of a person or details of a premises from the Register of Poultry Premises where in the opinion of the Minister the person is no longer keeping poultry on a premises.

4. (1) The owner or person in charge of poultry shall maintain, on a daily basis, a record of—

(a) all mortalities that occur in the flock or on the premises,

(b) the daily production of eggs in the flock, and

(c) the intake of food and water by the flock.

(2) A person to whom paragraph (1) applies shall immediately notify the veterinary practitioner having clinical charge of the poultry if there are increased mortalities or a drop in egg production in or a decrease in feed or water intake by the poultry.

(3) The Minister may determine the form of the record to be maintained under paragraph (1) and where he or she so determines, it shall be maintained in that form.

(4) A person shall maintain a record made under this article for 3 years and make it available on request to an authorised officer.

(5) Paragraph(1)(b) and (c) does not apply to a person who keeps no more than 350 poultry and does not sell or supply poultry or poultry products.

5. (1) The Minister may require that (a) the owner or a person in charge of a premises, (b) a person transporting, handling or dealing with poultry, (c) a person visiting a premises for maintenance, management, husbandry or advisory purposes or (d) a person delivering or collecting poultry or any product, material or equipment to or from a premises implements biosecurity measures as may be specified from time to time.

(2) Biosecurity measures referred to in paragraph (1) may include measures relating to—

(a) perimeter fencing around the premises,

(b) securing the premises where the poultry are kept,

(c) separation of species of poultry from other species,

(d) provision and use of footbaths and hand-washing facilities,

(e) controls on animals, visitors and vehicles to the premises,

(f) disinfection of premises, vehicles and equipment,

(g) wearing of protective clothing and footwear,

(h) arrangements for feeding and watering of free-range poultry,

(i) storage, treatment of or access to water,

(j) storage and disposal of dead birds, litter, manure and waste material,

(k) storage of feed, water or bedding,

(l) management practices and

(m) any other related matters.

6. The Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (Registration of Poultry Premises) Order 2005 ( S.I. No. 677 of 2005 ) is revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

21 February 2008

MARY COUGHLAN.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

This order provides for the registration, with the Department, of all poultry flockowners and owners of premises where poultry are kept, for the keeping of records and for biosecurity matters..