Limits on moving livestock into Wales due to virus

Limits are to be placed on moving livestock from England into Wales in response to the spread of the bluetongue virus.

Cattle, sheep and goats would need to test negative for the potentially fatal disease before they can be transported across the border.

While bluetongue has spread across large parts of England, it has yet to reach Wales this year and the Welsh government said it was attempting to hold it back "for as long as we can".

But the farming industry warned the implications of the decision could be "catastrophic" for cross-border trade.

Spread by midges, bluetongue presents no threat to food safety or human health, but can have serious consequences for ruminant livestock like sheep and cattle.

Wales' farming industry is dominated by sheep and cattle farms.

A restricted zone (RZ) in England - limiting the movement of animals - has continued to expand over recent months as the disease has spread.

From 1 July, the UK government has decided to designate the whole of England as an RZ, which in practice means movement controls are lifted as the focus shifts to encouraging uptake of new bluetongue vaccines which alleviate the symptoms.

The Welsh government said it regretted the UK government's decision, but understood the reasons behind it.

"This change increases the risk of disease incursion into Wales, either through the movement of infected livestock, or the ingress of virus carrying midges from across the border," warned Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies.

The Welsh government had been left facing "a major decision - with implications for the livestock sectors and animal health and welfare across Wales", he said.

Farming leaders had urged him to align with England and not impose restrictions on livestock movement across the border - branding it both "a futile endeavour and wholly impractical".

Irranca-Davies, also the cabinet minister with responsibility for rural affairs, said he appreciated there were differing views and that he had listened to representation from both the livestock and veterinary sectors.

But ultimately he had concluded that he could not "in all conscience invite bluetongue into Wales on 1 July by aligning with the RZ in England".

"I am unwilling to risk the uncertain impact of the disease in livestock dense areas like the Welsh borders," he said.

"I am also extremely concerned about the economic and farmer wellbeing impacts of dealing with sick animals, and the livestock productivity and fertility losses associated with severe bluetongue, as observed in many affected European countries."

Testing livestock brought into Wales will allow time to monitor the effects of bluetongue in England and ensure more Welsh farmers are able to vaccinate their animals, he added.

Acknowledging some would be disappointed by his announcement and there would be "licencing requirements, livestock testing costs and other commercial pressures" as a result, he said the policy would be kept "under regular review".

Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) President Ian Rickman said the announcement brought "a wealth of barriers and complications".

"The mechanics of issuing licences in a timely manner, arranging and conducting pre-movement sampling and testing, co-ordinating haulage and the extortionate costs and disruption to cross-border holdings and trade... will be entirely unattainable and impractical," he warned.

"Meanwhile the midges that carry and spread the virus would not respect any such boundaries."

The union called for "clear guidelines and advice" for the 550 farms and "numerous livestock markets" that straddle the Welsh-English border.

Speaking to BBC Farming Today earlier this week, Chris Dodds of the Livestock Auctioneers Association said limiting movement of animals across the border would be "catastrophic".

"We're not very far away from the main store and breeding sales especially for sheep, when hundreds of thousands of animals move from their upland farms to the lowland farms both for feeding and for breeding purposes."

Pointing to Hereford market, which sits "right near the Welsh border", he explained about 100,000 animals were moved from that market into Wales last year.

"The suggestion that everything (would have) to be pre-movement tested to move to Wales at great cost to the farmer - you're looking at tens of millions of pounds just within one market to facilitate that trade - and those animals need to go to the farmers as their future breeding stock."

It affects cattle, goats, sheep, goats, deer and camelids such as llamas and alpacas.

It can cause ulcers or sores around the animal's mouth and face, difficulties swallowing and breathing, fever and lameness, abortion, foetal deformities and stillbirths.

The impact of the latest strain – known as BTV-3 - seems to vary considerably across different regions, with some animals showing little sign of infection and managing to recover.

In the Netherlands, tens of thousands of sheep have died.

Bluetongue is a notifiable disease so anyone suspecting their animals may have it must report it to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).