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Dear Colleague

CONSULTATION ON DRAFT FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2005

I attach the Draft Foot and Mouth Disease (Scotland) Regulations 2005 and accompanying Regulatory Impact Assessment on which would we would be grateful for your comments.

You will recall that we consulted you in 2003 on the Draft EUFMD Directive. This was adopted into EU legislation in September 2003 and we have been working since then to transpose this into Scottish legislation which is done through the attached Draft Regulations. The Regulations update the existing legislation and will help support the operation of the FMD Contingency Plan for Scotland ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/agri/documents/CP26Feb.pdf). Annex A provides a summary of the main provisions of the new legislation.

The partial Regulatory Impact Assessment provides further details on these proposals and gives information on other changes made in the Draft Regulations. In particular, it highlights that overall the effect of the new Order is enhance the powers currently in place to take into account further developments in science and lessons from the 2001 FMD outbreaks in Europe.

You will be aware from the previous consultation exercise that the Directive is a long and complex document designed to cover a wide range of disease scenarios and control options. We are required to transpose the Directive fully and the draft legislation reflects this complexity. As well as your views on the proposed measures themselves, we welcome your suggestions on how we can best communicate the points in the legislation.

There is one further point I would like to bring to your attention, which concerns the prohibition on milk testing for dairy hygiene purposes in Protection Zones and following vaccination. Reacting to industry concerns, the Commission will be amending the Directive to allow testing under licence, and we are liaising with them over the timing and wording of the amendment so it can be reflected in the final legislation.

Comments on the proposals should be sent to the address below by 23 September 2005. I should be grateful if you would clearly indicate in your response which parts of the consultation document you are responding to as this will aid the analysis of the responses. You should also complete and return the Respondee Information Form (which is attached to the letter) with your response. This will let me know how you wish your response to be handled.

Address for reply:

The Scottish Executive now has an e-mail alert system for SE consultations ( SEconsult). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly e-mail containing details of all new SE consultations (including weblinks). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SE distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up-to-date with all SE consultations activity, and therefore to be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. I would encourage you to register.

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general Scottish Executive consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance work.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body. Consultation exercises may involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises.

Typically, Scottish Executive consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisation and individuals with an interest in the area of consultation, and they are also placed on the Scottish Executive website enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses. All the responses to this consultation will be made available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library by 23 October 2005, unless confidentiality is requested. All responses marked confidential will be checked for any potentially defamatory material before being logged in the library or placed on the website. The library is located at Saughton House, (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4552).

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process. Depending on he nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review;
• inform the development of a particular policy;
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented.

If you have any comment about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to Debbie.

Yours sincerely

NEIL RITCHIE

ANNEX A - MAIN PROVISIONS OF FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2005

• Slaughter of infected animals and dangerous contacts remains the main disease control policy
• Prohibition of movements of (susceptible) animals in protection and surveillance zones. Movements in surveillance zones may be permitted under licence in certain specified conditions where the risk of disease spread is considered negligible.
• Specified treatments of fresh meat and meat products from (susceptible) animals in protection and surveillance zones
• Vaccination (either 'to kill' or 'to live') as a key tool in disease combat and control. Guidance on vaccination is set out in Scotland's FMD contingency plan. Full and careful consideration will be given to the costs and benefits of vaccination before any decision is taken on its use.
• Maturation and deboning treatment of meat from vaccinated animals
• Prohibition on testing milk samples from protection zone, for milk hygiene purposes in laboratories not authorised to test for FMD virus. (We expect a Commission amendment to allow this under licence but the timescale is unsure.) Samples from surveillance zone can go to 'non authorised' laboratories for testing subject to official authorisation to avoid risk of spreading FMD virus.
• Discretionary powers to kill non-susceptible animals, such as pets, on infected premises. (Veterinary advice is that they do not envisage circumstance in which they would wish to use this power but we must transpose it if we are not to be in breach of the Directive.)
• measures to maintain zoo and rare breed animals include heightened biosecurity which may include restricting public access.

The above meet the minimum measures required by EU legislation. In addition the Directive provides a legal base for further measures which Member States may wish to undertake. On the basis of veterinary advice and experience we propose to take the following additional powers, most of which are already contained in the existing domestic legislation.

• Requirement to control dogs and poultry within the protection and surveillance zones around infected premises.
• Licensing of activities such as shearing, dipping and scanning of sheep in protection, surveillance and restricted zones.
• A provision to close footpaths within the protection and surveillance zones
• All shooting/stalking/drag hunting activities prohibited within protection and surveillance zones. In all other circumstances these activities may continue under license .
• Markets/fairs/shows/gatherings of animals (including collection and dispersion of susceptible species) are prohibited in the protection zone and surveillance zone. Out with these areas such activities may continue under strict license and the risk of disease spread is considered negligible.
• Pest control. On a premise where disease is suspected or dangerous contact there will be a requirement to control rats and vermin.

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