In a no-deal scenario, changes would be required for the export to the EU of animals and animal products (excluding pets and small animals). As usual, OVs must ensure they obtain an up-to-date EHC and familiarise themselves with the requirements and the notes for guidance in case any conditions may have changed.
Defra published a series of technical notices in 2018 detailing possible implications of no-deal on the UK’s ability to export animals and animal products, and horses and other equidae. The notices state that in the event of a no-deal, the UK will become a third country and will need to be listed as such to be able to export to the EU. The European Commission also published a series of notices on the movement of animals and food of animal origin, for member states.
Third countries have to apply to the EU to be listed in EU legislation as a country authorised for the export of different commodities to the EU. If the UK does not achieve listing by 29 March 2019, exports to the EU of animals and animal products (except pets) could not continue. The UK has applied to the Commission to be listed as a third country authorised for exports of animals and their products to the EU. This briefing note assumes the UK has been listed as a third country for the commodities it intends to export.
OVs are to read and understand the technical notices and their implications on the different sectors. Note that the course content/guidance/assessment for OVs as part of their initial training and subsequent revalidation (ie the OCQ(V) courses/modules provided by Improve International) and the OV instructions available through the APHA Vet Gateway will be amended, once the final position is known, to remove references to intra-EU trade and use of the Intra Trade Animal Health Certificates (ITAHCs) for the export of animals and animal products to the EU.
The associated TRACES support documents will no longer be relevant and will be removed. These will be replaced by Export Health Certificates (EHCs) based on the model certificates that the European Commission have in place for the importation of various (categories/classes/types of) animals and animal products from non-EU countries.
OVs must use the correct EHC for the commodity category/class/type, bearing in mind that EHCs for the export of animals and animal products to the EU will be different to the ITAHCs currently used for intra-EU trade, and that EHCs will be required for the export of animal products to EU-27, which currently do not need to be officially certified.
Examples of significant changes from current procedures are highlighted in the separate sections of the Briefing Note; to read the full note, click here.
Further OV briefings
15 JANUARY 2019
Sam – online TB test submission update
Updates have been made to the Government Gateway and therefore the links to the Sam – online TB test submission and guidance (Sam login) for both organisation and agent has changed. HMRC is decommissioning the Government Gateway Service; all services have moved to its replacement. OVs are to use the new links to the Sam – online TB test submission (Government Gateway) pages and also the APHA Vet Gateway Sam – online TB
test submission pages.
9 JANUARY 2019
Annual surveillance TB testing for lower-risk herds in the six-monthly testing parts of the Edge Area in England
From May 2019, cattle herds in the six-monthly testing parts of the Edge Area in England that meet certain criteria will be eligible to move to annual surveillance testing. Defra’s public consultation in 2017 on the introduction of routine six-monthly surveillance testing in the High Risk Area (HRA) included a proposal that less frequent surveillance testing of cattle herds should be allowed depending on their TB histories and herd health accreditation for bovine TB.
This policy change recognises and rewards those cattle keepers with a reduced risk of suffering a TB breakdown and/or who are proactively trying to increase their resilience to bovine TB by participating in a Cattle Health Certification Standards (CHeCS) accredited bovine TB health scheme. It will also help to incentivise other keepers to reduce the bovine TB threat to their herds.
17 DECEMBER 2018
Introduction of Official Control Qualification (Animal Health Paraprofessional) – Certification Support Officer (OCQ (AHP) – CSO)
The Official Controls Qualification (OCQ) for Certification Support Officers (CSOs), which is an Animal Health Paraprofessional (AHP) role, has been released. This qualification (OCQ(AHP) – CSO) supports the delivery of Export Health Certification for animal products excluding germplasm/germinal products. CSOs are not able to support live animal certification. The use of CSOs is expected to increase the efficiency and productivity of OVs providing export certification for animal products (excluding germplasm/ germinal products). However, the APHA will direct which EHCs are suitable for deployment of CSOs. An initial list of eligible EHCs will be made available as part of OV Instructions Product Exports
and this should be checked by the OV at appropriate intervals.
6 DECEMBER 2018
Launch of Export Health Certificate form finder service
The APHA launched an Export Health Certificate (EHC) form finder on the UK government website on 30 November 2018. The EHC form finder is an online catalogue of all EHCs, Export Application forms (EXA), notes for guidance (NFG) and other support documents associated to EHCs. The service will enable OVs to view or download these forms directly without having to contact the Centre for International Trade in Carlisle by email or telephone to request the forms.
