SEPRA News
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- SEPRA Member Services
- Environmental Health Officers
- Avian Influenza
- Dioxin
- Transport of poultry
- Congratulations
SEPRA Member Services
I believe that today we have become too dependent of technology, and farmers or food producers as they are called, require expertise in more than the ability to attend to the welfare of their animals.
They also need knowledge of the law and to know how to deal with ‘welfare’ visits from so called experts.
Government and their departments deem this and that without, many times, any explanation as to the reason or if the particular new regulation will improve animal welfare.
Farmers have to be rule-wise. Government and their departments are carrying out exercises without your knowledge and often without consultation, thereby denying farmers the right of questioning.
In view of the appearance of modern events and technology, SEPRA has negotiated a free service which will keep you up to date with the latest legislation and commercial issues that might impact egg producers, in fact to all farmers.
My daughter Valerie is an Associate in the legal firm MacRoberts' Technology, Media & Communications Group and this has resulted in MacRoberts* offering this free service to all SEPRA members. MacRoberts publishes regular updates regarding various aspects of business, employment and commercial law. Scottish Egg Producer Retailers Association members, as a benefit of their membership, can receive these updates free of charge. If you wish to take advantage of this offer download and print this form (Microsoft Word version or Adobe Acrobat version) and return it to MacRoberts as instructed. We have also arranged that you will be invited to free seminars offered by MacRoberts from time to time and will be offered the chance of attending paid training and workshops.
It’s free! Costs you nothing. Just an e-mail, postage stamp or fax. What other offer can be better ?
* MacRoberts are leading Scottish solicitors and offer expert legal advice across a range of issues including banking & finance; construction law; corporate law and corporate tax; employment law; pensions law; technology media & communication law; commercial litigation; private client & charities; environmental & planning; projects law and property law. Based in Glasgow and Edinburgh their breadth of experience in all areas of commercial law speaks for itself and they are regularly featured in Scotland’s legal Who’s Who.
Environmental Health Officers
Years ago animals and birds provided food which was ‘produced’ and then distributed by farmers. It was a method which appeared to work, but as more and more of the population could afford to buy more foods, and more variety, the production of foods became more sophisticated or more ‘factory’ type.
In the end ‘Groups’ took over either by production or in policing production and marketing.
The world became more technology inclined and the keeping of data and records appeared to be the way forward, especially in the production and safety of foods for the public.
Food groups, whether production or marketing, have auditors to check on animals used for production. We now this year have inspections of premises used for grading and storage of eggs. Your local EHOs will complete these audits.
As far as I can see audits are forms with lots of questions and little squares to tick to show that the correct procedure has been completed.
One member told me of an audit carried out on his farm where the auditor ticked all the squares but never once looked at the hens or commented on their excellent appearance. The reply was that there was nothing on the form, or square, asking about ‘appearances ‘.
In other words if, for instance, the bait box was filled, a tick was placed in the correct square and Bob’s your Uncle. It was a “pass”.
I have now received from Charles Russell copies of the two leaflets that were sent to you by the FSA.
The new legislation, which came in on 1st January, does not vary much from the old regulations which were policed by the egg inspectorate.
Under the new Regulation policing will be carried out by your local EHO. From my past experience of these inspectors, a lot will depend on their personal interpretation of the regulations and members could come up against problems.
There could well be a necessity to attend training for your personal HACCP system.
I see also that you have to ensure “ an adequate number of flush lavatories and washbasins. “ I wonder what is meant by adequate and who decides the number ?
Which reminds me of a Nuffield poultry study-trip to South Africa when we toured a farm producing vegetables for a UK supermarket. Dozens of workers in the field but not one portable loo to be seen anywhere ! Guess where they went !
The arrangement with MacRoberts perhaps has been at a most opportune time ?
Avian Influenza
It hasn’t gone away yet. In fact as you will have seen it has been confirmed in Nigeria. Some ‘experts’ are stating that there is a possibility of the virus spreading to UK and Europe via the annual migration of small birds, such as swallows etc, from Africa. Other experts deem that this will not happen and that if the small birds are affected they shall die before reaching our shores?
In Canada where they have been tracking the outbreaks of AI throughout the world, they have found no evidence that the outbreaks have coincided with the flight paths of migratory birds.
In China/Hong Kong all chickens within a 5-kilometre radius of any farm with an H5N1 outbreak will be killed, including those on the mainland, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow confirmed yesterday. Chow was speaking after meeting officials from Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province.
Both sides agreed that should any farm close to the border have an H5N1 outbreak, chickens within 5 kilometres radius of that farm - even if some of them were across the border - would be killed to prevent the spread of the virus.
"This applies to both Hong Kong and the mainland," he said.
The one-hour meeting was held to discuss measures to control the bird flu outbreak after chickens and wild birds found in Hong Kong had been infected with the virus.
Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) confirmed yesterday that a common magpie found in Yuen Tun Village, Sham Tseng, on February 2 tested positive for H5N1. Earlier a chicken smuggled from the mainland to Sha Tau Kok was also killed by the virus.
Chow said relevant authorities would take measures against smuggling of poultry into Hong Kong. He also said mainland authority would take stringent measures to ensure chickens imported to Hong Kong were safe to eat.
The number of registered chicken farms in Shenzhen had been reduced from over 100 to 35 because of stringent requirements of accreditation and licensing, he said.
The SAR government has earlier proposed to amend the Public Health (Animals and Birds) Regulation to ban backyard poultry keeping, aiming at individuals who keep less than 20 poultry.
Unlike licensed farms, there is no biosecurity arrangement nor systematic vaccination for poultry in backyard farms to prevent the outbreak of bird flu.
AFCD officers have called on backyard farms in 36 villages around Yuen Tuen Shan Village in Sha Tau Kok to hand in their poultry, but many of them refused.
In the UK the Government are only registering flocks of 50 birds and over. I am told that there could be a total of over 3 million back-yard flocks in the UK.
I have been asked to attend a Scottish Executive Stakeholder meeting to discuss how the avian influenza directive will be implemented in Scotland, and they also hope that they can use this meeting to discuss the movement restrictions that would be imposed through the Contingency Plan.
They are also just published the revised Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease Contingency Plan. They discussed the background to these changes at the meeting I attended in early December.
Following the emerging circumstantial evidence that migrating wild fowl could carry high pathogenic avian influenza, they have amended the Contingency Plan to set out the expectation that were high pathogenic avian influenza found in Scotland an immediate requirement for the housing of all domestic flocks would be introduced. Were avian influenza to be found in the domestic poultry population they would also expect to introduce a system of movement restrictions.
One of the problems with small domestic flocks could be the fact that the hen houses are on the small size to keep hens locked in all day ?
Moira and I are to attend a SNFU Poultry Committee meeting on Tuesday. I am sure there will be many views regarding A I and also the latest findings regarding egg washing ?
Dioxin
Another food scare which has reared its head again from the Continent, is a contamination of animal feed with Dioxin.
Tessenderlo, a feed ingredients company fingered as the source of the contamination, today said that an inadequate test had resulted in the error.
"For Tessenderlo Group, discussions about compensation and amicable settlements are premature as long as the various investigations are under way," the Belgium-based company stated.
Dioxin has been the cause of numerous food scares. It was found in Dutch potato animal feed in 2004. Pig farmers in the Netherlands were found to be using it as an illegal hormone for pigs in 2002.
Belgium's meat industry suffered a similar blow in 1999, when dioxin was discovered in pigs and chickens. Then, the industry lost millions of euros either through a quarantine of some 200 Belgian farms, or through the loss of their export markets after some countries imposed bans.
The country ended up slaughtering seven million chickens and 60,000 pigs. The scare, which occurred just before the 1999 general election, played a key part in the landslide defeat of the former government of Jean-Luc Dehaene.
Transport of poultry
Moira has an invitation to attend a Farm Animal Welfare meeting to discuss FA Council Regulation 1/2005 competence requirements for transporters of poultry. If anyone is interested in attending please let me know. The meeting is on 17th February.
Congratulations
I hear that Jim Gammie at Banff has just been presented with a son Alexander Robert by his partner Sylvia. Congratulations to them both. I am sure that ‘grannie’ Gammie who is still in a rest home at Macduff will be so excited. Congratulations to them all.
Dennis Surgenor
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