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Scottish Executive Response to: Lessons to be Learned; Royal Society; and Royal Society of Edinburgh Inquiries into Foot and Mouth Disease
CHAPTER II - ACTION FOLLOWING THE 2001 OUTBREAK
7. Each of the three Inquiries (Lessons to be Learned, Royal Society and Royal Society of Edinburgh) referred to above contains a wealth of extremely useful background material, much detailed analysis and in total the three Reports make 141 valuable recommendations. The Executive's Response to the individual recommendations is set out in Chapter III.
8. The general recognition that the outbreak was handled comparatively well in Scotland, with effective partnership between the different parties involved, is a source of satisfaction, particularly considering that so many people gave their unstinting commitment to the disease control effort during the outbreak itself. The Executive nevertheless remains determined to take whatever steps are necessary to learn from the devastating experience of 2001 and to do everything possible to avoid a recurrence of the recent outbreak.
9. Dr Iain Anderson's Report recommends steps be taken with a view to:
keeping out infectious agents of exotic disease;
reducing livestock vulnerability by reforms in industry practice;
minimising the impact of any future outbreak.
10. The Executive fully agrees with this approach and progress in each of these areas is set out below. It is important to note, however, that, unavoidably, effective disease prevention and control must be carried out on a GB basis. Our work in responding to the FMD outbreak is being carried out in close co-operation with DEFRA and the Welsh Assembly. It will also link up with a much wider initiative involving the production of a comprehensive Animal Health & Welfare Strategy, the aim of which is to take a more pro-active and strategic approach. As Great Britain is a single epidemiological unit, the Strategy will be drawn up on a GB basis. Stakeholder involvement at GB and Scottish levels in tackling this major exercise will be crucial. Maintaining and, where possible, improving Scotland's animal health and welfare status is very important in underpinning our reputation for the production of quality meat and livestock. In drawing up the Strategy, it will be important to recognise distinctive Scottish features, and provision will be made for significant differentiation on such issues as local delivery. The Animal Health and Welfare Strategy will be consistent with the Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture.
Keeping out exotic disease agents
11. The UK is a major international trading nation. There are extensive movements of goods and people to and from our shores. It is estimated that there are 6 million containers of imported product landed in the UK every year and there are 60 million passenger movements through Heathrow Airport alone. Although four-fifths of the meat and meat preparations coming into the UK are from other Member States some may have their origin outwith the Community. The Community is scheduled to grow in size with 10 countries due to join over the coming years thus extending the Community boundaries and raising the volume of intra-Community trade. It is estimated that imports of meat and meat preparations from non-EU countries were worth around 900 million in 2001.
12. The greatest risk of introducing exotic disease agents into the UK is posed by large-scale smuggling of meat or animal products from non-EU countries. Guarding against such introductions is a major challenge, particularly when account is taken of the impractibility of searching every container and stopping and questioning every airline or ferry passenger. Clearly any action designed to tackle these issues needs to cover the country as a whole and needs to be focused on the areas where trade flows are greatest and the risk is highest. Importantly, efforts to contain this trade need to be fully co-ordinated.
13. Although the amount of meat and animal products consigned to Scotland from third countries is relatively small, it is of course acknowledged that it is possible that illegal products can arrive here and that they could come in through onward shipment from an English port or airport. The Scottish Executive has been liaising with Scottish Port Health Authorities and Scottish local authorities to tighten up controls wherever possible. The Executive has also been working very closely with Whitehall Departments in an effort to reduce the overall risk of diseased product entry into the UK as a whole. Much still needs to be done but useful progress has already been made as follows:
Following pressure from the UK the EU has now been persuaded that the "personal allowance" of 1 kg of meat or meat products which travellers have been allowed to bring into the EU from third countries will be banned from 2003.
Scrutiny of imported product has been stepped up. Enhanced checks and controls have been put in place and more staff have been recruited to police the controls.
Public awareness campaigns have been stepped up at ports and airports to ensure that all concerned are much more aware of the risks involved.
The Veterinary Laboratory Agency has been commissioned to conduct a detailed risk assessment, which will help enforcement agencies target resources in an effort to raise seizure levels.
A review of the whole system of import controls and the role of the Agencies responsible is underway by the Machinery of Government Secretariat.
14. Much work has been done already to address the illegal imports problem but more will be required to tackle this major challenge of seeking to eliminate the risk of importing exotic disease agents. The Scottish Executive is, and will be, playing its full part in the process.
Reducing livestock vulnerability by reforms in industry practice
15. However, hard as Government and industry may work together to prevent exotic diseases entering the country, the risk that diseases may arrive undetected, probably by illegal means, cannot be eliminated. Reflecting this, a number of reforms have been made to reduce the risk of disease entering or spreading through the country.
16. A complete ban on the use of pigswill was introduced in Scotland in May 2001. The UK has also supported the development of an EU regulation, which has now been approved, to ban the use of pigswill on a pan-European basis. The Scottish Executive published a consultation paper outlining a draft Biosecurity Code of Practice in March 2002. This has been drawn up with the industry and after an extensive consultation exercise the code is currently before the Scottish Parliament seeking a statutory basis. The code provides a useful guidance on good biosecurity practice for keepers of livestock. It also provides guidance for other users of farmland e.g. walkers and utility workers.
17. The Code is only part of the process and we will be working with the industry after its finalisation to ensure that the message is constantly refreshed. As such, a website is being developed to add further, and more detailed advice; Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) has been funded to provide a source of biosecurity advice to the industry, and the Scottish Executive is working to help develop a training module for use on agriculture related courses, which provides instruction on good biosecurity practice.
18. The large number of animal movements across GB was an important factor in explaining the wide geographic spread of the outbreak. Animal movements are necessary, particularly in Scotland, where the stratified nature of the industry requires stock to be moved at particular times of the year due to the need to buy in breeding stock or move store stock from hill areas to the low ground areas for fattening.
19. Farm to farm movements of animals within 20 days are also covered by a legislative ban subject to certain exemptions. In Scotland there are also, subject to prior approval, exceptions from the 20-day standstill for animals which are held separately. These arrangements were introduced following detailed discussion with the Scottish livestock industry and apply for 2002. As recommended in the Lessons Learned Report, a detailed cost benefit analysis and risk assessment is being carried out into the impact of the 20 day standstill rule. This work will be taken into full account before deciding what permanent movement regime is required to safeguard the industry for the future.
20. Work has also been taken forward to enhance the level of animal traceability and a sheep traceability system was established in February 2002. This is an important development in giving greater knowledge of animals' origins and destinations.
21. Veterinary surveillance is fundamental in detecting disease in its early stages and incursion from abroad. A strategy for veterinary surveillance is currently being developed and a draft will be put out to consultation later in the year.
Minimising the impact of any disease
22. It is important that plans are in place to ensure a quick and effective response to any disease outbreak. Whilst well developed and rehearsed local contingency plans were in place before the 2001 outbreak, the Executive has now complemented these with the publication of a draft FMD contingency plan for Scotland. This was put out to stakeholder consultation and is in the process of being finalised. The plan outlines how the disease control effort will be managed and how the close partnership arrangements used in 2001 will be further developed to reflect lessons learned. It will help to manage expectations of policy actions which will be taken in a future outbreak such as the immediate introduction of a livestock movement ban and the creation of a Blue Box
1 to increase the level of biosecurity in an infected area.
23. Once revised, the Scottish contingency plan will be kept under review. Reflecting the fact that a response to any outbreak must be a partnership between the Executive and industry, local authorities and other key stakeholders, it will be discussed on an annual basis with the Animal Health and Welfare Stakeholder Group. It will also be subject to regular rehearsals, which will be undertaken to ensure that the plan is capable of delivery and that key players are aware of their roles and responsibilities in the eventuality of any new outbreak.
24. In addition to outlining the processes that will be associated with disease response, the Scottish Executive is also actively developing the idea of having a cadre of staff who are trained and can be deployed in an emergency situation. This is also being supported by a programme of work, at the GB level, addressing issues on how the existing State Veterinary Service resource can be enhanced during a disease outbreak.
25. Vaccination was an issue very much in the public mind in 2001. It is not an easy topic given the complexities that surround the use of vaccination such as the trigger point for its use, the differentiation between vaccinated and infected animals, significant trade barriers and issues of consumer acceptability. In a speech to the European Parliament's Temporary Committee into FMD, Ross Finnie outlined the importance of ensuring these issues are resolved, so that where vaccination is a practicable alternative we can avoid repeating the 2001 experience of mass slaughter. Many of these issues need to be addressed at the international level and the Scottish Executive will work with the UK Government and the EU to ensure that they are resolved. Some issues can only be resolved through further research and development. However, while many important issues are outstanding, vaccination should be part of the disease control toolkit and part of the Contingency Plan. Therefore the Plan includes a workstream to ensure that vaccination facilities can be put in place at the start of any future outbreak, in case it is required as part of the disease control strategy. The judgement on whether to apply it will be taken in the light of the veterinary advice at the time. (For a more detailed discussion, please see the section dealing with Vaccination, starting at paragraph 133)
Delivery
26. Under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998, animal health is fully devolved to Scottish Ministers, who are themselves accountable to the Scottish Parliament. In delivering animal health policy the Scottish Executive is supported by the State Veterinary Service (SVS) through a network of local Animal Health Offices which are responsible for local delivery. A veterinary unit within the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department's (SEERAD) Edinburgh headquarters also provides independent veterinary advice to the Scottish Executive. This professional support both at headquarters and in the field is led by the Chief Veterinary Officer (Scotland).
27. The Chief Veterinary Officer post is a recent redesignation of the former Assistant Chief Veterinary Officer position. The change (announced in the Scottish Parliament on 10 October 2002) more fully reflects the post's breadth of responsibilities - in particular its responsibility to give independent veterinary advice to the Scottish Executive. It also takes account of the restructuring of the State Veterinary Service across Great Britain.
28. The redesignation of the post results from a review which the Scottish Executive has undertaken of the provision of veterinary advice and support to its animal health and welfare responsibilities. In reviewing this issue the Scottish Executive has decided, in conjunction with Ministerial colleagues in England and Wales, that the State Veterinary Service should remain a GB-wide organisation. This reflects the importance of close co-operation and communication amongst veterinary colleagues in a single epidemiological unit and also the substantial benefits that are associated with sharing of technical and other resources.
29. However, the analysis of the role of the SVS in Scotland combined with lessons from the FMD outbreak, as well as restructuring of the SVS within DEFRA, have required some changes to the organisation's management. Whilst agreeing on the significant benefits of maintaining a GB-wide SVS it was apparent that further steps need to be taken to increase the accountability of the SVS to Scottish Ministers and make more explicit the different approaches which are required across GB in the delivery of front line services. As such a decision has been taken to create a SVS Management Board which will have the remit to:
set the strategic direction of the SVS;
consider and approve annually the SVS business plan;
review annually SVS performance against its targets; and
ensure that there is an appropriate and efficient match between the resources available to the SVS and the requirements placed on it throughout Great Britain.
The Scottish Executive will be represented on the Board by the Head of the Food and Agriculture Group in SEERAD. The details of the Management Board will be reflected in revisions to the Scottish Executive/DEFRA/SVS Concordat and the new structure will come into effect on 1 April 2003.
Footnote
1The Blue Box, or Restricted Infected Area provides a heightened degree of biosecurity in the area around an infected premise. The Blue Box is explained in more detail at paragraph 106.
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