Minister urged to act on brucellosis testing after north declared free from the disease

The Minister for Agriculture is coming under increasing pressure to abolish brucellosis testing after the North was officially declared free of the disease.

The Europen Commission approved the North’s application for Official Brucellosis Free (OBF) status yesterday, prompting the IFA to argue that the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney should remove the pre-movement test from animals over 24 months of age.

IFA  Animal Health Chairman Bert Stewart said this announcement means the island of Ireland is now recognised officially as free from Brucellosis, and he expects the Minister to move quickly on this based on the commitments given to the Association earlier this year. 

“Brucellosis has imposed severe costs and hardship on individual farmers and the Minister must now remove the last direct cost burden on farmers as soon as possible,” said Mr Stewart. 

Bert Stewart said the discontinuation of the pre-movement test for breeding animals over 24 months of age will represent the removal of the last farmer testing requirement for brucellosis. When combined with the cessation of herd testing, this will be worth €6m in savings annually to farmers.

Furthermore, he said the discontinuation of this test allows farmers to consider mart sales for female beef animals without the prohibitive costs previously associated with their sale. This will provide a viable alternative outlet and improve competition.

Announcing the good news on Wednesday, the North's Agriculture Minister, Michelle O’Neill said: 'My officials are already preparing for the phased dismantling of certain aspects of the scheme and this will begin as soon as possible after the Commission decision is published in the Official Journal of the EU. I have already started to roll back the programme.In June, I decreased the routine testing frequency for beef herds from annual testing to every two years.I will continue to work towards reducing the burden on farmers through successive changes to our programme over the next number of months.'

The Minister also paid tribute to those farmers and stakeholders whose cooperation had been vital in ensuring the success of the brucellosis eradication programme.
She said: 'Official freedom is a remarkable achievement considering the grip that brucellosis had on the farming community just a few years ago. I am acutely aware that this disease led to very distressing circumstances for many farmers, whose herds had to be depopulated to stop its spread. EU Commission approval of our brucellosis free status signals that the partnership approach that has been adopted in dealing with this devastating disease has worked.'

Relaxing the testing regime for brucellosis will result in substantial financial benefits for industry, the taxpayer and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) through reduced administration, sampling and testing costs.However the EU Trade Directive requires that a brucellosis surveillance testing programme must continue for five years after OBF status is granted to ensure continuing disease freedom.

Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Colin Hart said: 'While this development regarding OBF status is very welcome, the industry must continue to avoid complacency.It is essential that farmers maintain their efforts to achieve excellent biosecurity standards and adopt appropriate stock replacement policies. I would encourage all herd keepers to maintain a fortress farming approach to protection of the health of their animals.'