Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to impose restrictions on the free movement of camelids in the UK to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

George Eustice

The Tuberculosis (Deer and Camelid) (England) Order 2014 provides powers to restrict the movement of a camelid that shows clinical signs of bovine TB, tests positive to the disease or has been exposed to the infection. These powers may require the keeper to take reasonable steps to prevent the affected animal from coming into contact with any other farmed animal on the same premises or on adjoining premises and prevent the movement of camelids on to or off such premises except under a licence issued by an inspector. In addition, my Department has worked with the British Alpaca and Llama Societies on the design and promotion of a TB testing regime that includes voluntary routine surveillance. A call for views on control of bovine TB in non-bovine farmed animals, including camelids, is currently in progress and will run until 20 November.