New TB testing rules which would require NI farmers to test cattle before they move through a mart or on to another herd are being considered by DAERA.

The rules are part of new EU Animal Health Law (AHL) which comes into effect in April 2021.

Despite leaving the EU earlier this year, NI still has to follow certain EU rules as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

“Officials are currently working through the implications of the AHL for the NI TB programme,” a department spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Under the new AHL, farmers need to TB-test an animal either before or after it moves on to another herd, unless both the animal and the herd of origin were tested within the previous six months.

In the Republic of Ireland, a draft strategy has been drawn up which will also require herds that are deemed at high risk of a TB outbreak (TB free less than three years) to pre-movement-test cattle within 30 days of a sale.

Strategy

The new AHL requirements could be included in a revised TB eradication strategy for NI which was originally due to be published by DAERA this autumn. The strategy is also expected to contain long awaited proposals for addressing the TB reservoir in wildlife.

A department spokesperson said that the new TB strategy is currently being considered by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots and will be subject to approval by the NI Executive.

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