| Description | Consultation on Implementation of EU legislation in Scotland: Aquatic Animal Health Directive |
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| ISBN | (Web Only) |
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| Official Print Publication Date | December 2007 |
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| Website Publication Date | December 20, 2007 |
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Marine Directorate Food and Fish Division T: 0131-244 6162 F: 0131-244 6552 E: Dave.Wyman@scotland.gsi.gov.uk | |
Consultees as per attached list
20 December 2007
Dear Consultee
Consultation on Implementation of EU Legislation in Scotland : Aquatic Animal Health Directive
1. I am writing on behalf of the Scottish Government to invite views on implementation of this Directive in Scotland. We would be very grateful for your comments.
2. The following documents may be found on the Scottish Government's website
www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current:
Responses
3. Please send responses either by mail or email to Carrol Herbertson:
- Carrol Herbertson Room 414, Pentland House, 47 Robb's Loan, Edinburgh,
EH14 1TY or:
- Carrol.Herbertson@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
4. Responses should be received by Thursday 13 March 2008.
Why Are We Consulting?
5. All Member States of the European Union and some members of the European Economic Area including Norway, are required to put regulations in place to implement this Directive by May 2008 and to bring them into force by August 2008.
6. Some of the provisions are clearly obligatory and Member States must adopt them. Other areas provide flexibility and choices for the individual governments to make within the overall framework of the Directive.
7. This consultation asks you to comment, in particular on our interpretation and proposals for implementation. Your response will be vital in forming the final shape of implementation, including our legal provisions.
8. Implementation will also need to take account of the availability of funds.
Scope
9. The issues addressed are health, prevention and control of specified diseases, and emerging diseases in aquatic animals.
10. 'Aquatic animals' here means fish, molluscs and crustaceans. It does not extend to any other animals.
11. The primary focus of the Directive is aquaculture. There are also important provisions relating to aquatic animals for angling, for ornamental purposes, and in the wild. This is both to protect them in these environments and because of their potential interactions with aquaculture.
12. Compared with the current aquatic animal health regime, there are new obligations placed on both the private and government sectors and a broader range of businesses and people affected.
13. Aquatic animals caught for the purposes of production of fishmeal, fish feed, fish oil and similar products are explicitly outside the scope of the Directive and of our proposals.
EU Background
14. The current EU legislation governing aquatic animal health has been in place for 15 years. In that time, aquaculture has evolved, the European Community has expanded and new disease threats have emerged. This new Directive, agreed in October 2006, builds on the successful elements of the old legislation, updating it to reflect the current needs and pressures.
15. The aim of the Directive is to raise standards of aquaculture health throughout the EU and contain the risk of serious disease, finding the right balance between freedom for enterprise and regulation to control pathogens.
16. Work is going on at EU-level at present to address implementation issues. The UK supports this work and is contributing. We recognise it is not ideal that the EU and UK implementation processes run in parallel, but this is dictated by the EU timetable.
Strategy
17. Our strategy remains, to protect our health status, prevent the introduction and spread of serious diseases, and facilitate trade in these animals and their products.
18. A thriving and disease free Scottish aquaculture industry will contribute to the successful implementation of:
ยท The Scottish Government's Economic Strategy
- Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture
- Strategic Framework of Scottish Freshwater Fisheries
- Animal Health & Welfare Strategy for Great Britain (2004)
- Forthcoming national food policy for Scotland.
19. Our approach is built on the following principles:
- prevention is better than cure;
- burdens and costs - to the public and private sectors - must be proportionate;
- we need to find the right balance between control of pathogens and regulation;
- regulation and inspection must be based on a transparent assessment of disease risk;
- governments and industry need to work in partnership;
- governments and industry should be prepared to utilise as fully as possible the range of experts and expertise available to benefit aquaculture and aquatic animal health;
- the greatest risk of disease spread comes from contact between live fish;
- The introduction of Gyrodactylus salaris poses a very serious risk to wild salmon stocks if it were to be introduced.
Relations with Other UK Administrations
20. The Scottish Government has worked very closely with English, Welsh and Northern Irish governments and have endeavoured with them to develop a common approach. We wish as far as possible to avoid additional certification burdens on trade within the UK. We also all recognise that we have shared obligations as a Member State within the EU and that we face some common challenges and risks to our aquatic animals' health.
21. England, Wales and NI will be making their own, comparable proposals. If you have comments specifically for them, please contact them directly.
22. The proposals also aim to support the aquatic animal health objectives of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Stakeholder Discussions
23. This consultation follows frequent discussions with stakeholder organisations directly affected, both during the Directive negotiations and after its adoption. There has also been contact with a wider range of stakeholders.
24. One of the attached papers sets out what we see as the main obligations and proposals arising from this Directive. We also ask some questions and we would be grateful for your response. Please do not feel constrained by these, and feel free to comment on any matter arising. The paper should be read along with the Directive itself.
25. At the end of the consultation period, where respondents have given permission for their responses to be made public, copies of the responses we receive will be made publicly available in the Scottish Government library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4565. The information they contain will also be published in a summary of responses. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the Library. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.
26. If you do not consent to your reply being made public, you must clearly request that your response be treated confidentially in the attached Respondent Information Form. Any confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system in e-mail responses will not be treated as such a request. All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.
27. This consultation and all other Scottish Government consultations can be viewed online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/current You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is. The Scottish Government has an e-mail alert system for consultations (SEconsult: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations ). This system allows stakeholder individuals to
register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations (including web
links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces Scottish Government distribution
lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all consultation activity,
and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would
encourage you to register.
28. If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to Carrol Herbertson at the address given above.
29. Thank you for your help.
DAVE WYMAN
Aquaculture Health and WelfareRESPONDENT INFORMATION FORM: CONSULTATION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LEGISLATION IN SCOTLAND: AQUATIC ANIMAL HEALTH DIRECTIVE
Please complete the details below and return it with your response. This will help ensure we
handle your response appropriately. Thank you for your help.
Name:
Postal Address:
1. Are you responding: (please tick one box)
(a) as an individual ?? go to Q2a/b and then Q4
(b) on behalf of a group/organisation ?? go to Q3 and then Q4
INDIVIDUALS
2a. Do you agree to your response being made available to the public (in the Scottish
Executive library and/or on the Scottish Executive website)?
Yes (go to 2b below) ??
No, not at all ?? We will treat your response as confidential
2b. Where confidentiality is not requested, we will make your response available to
the public on the following basis (please tick one of the following boxes)
Yes, make my response, name and address all available ??
Yes, make my response available, but not my name or address ??
Yes, make my response and name available, but not my address ??
ON BEHALF OF GROUPS OR ORGANISATIONS:
3 The name and address of your organisation will be made available to the public (in
the Scottish Executive library and/or on the SE website). Are you also content for
your response to be made available?
Yes ??
No ?? We will treat your response as confidential
SHARING RESPONSES/FUTURE ENGAGEMENT
4 We will share your response internally with other Scottish Executive policy teams who may be addressing the issues you discuss. They may wish to contact you again in the future, but we require your permission to do so. Are you content for the Scottish Executive to contact you again in the future in relation to this consultation response?
Yes ??
No ??
LIST OF CONSULTEES
Advocates for Animals
Anglers' Conservation Association
Angling Foundation
Association of Salmon Fishery Boards
Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers
Association of Scottish Stillwater Fisheries
Atlantic Salmon Trust
British Marine Finfish Association
British Trout Association
British Waterways
Burns Country Smokehouse
Compassion in World Farming
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Crofters Commission
Crown Estate
Defra
Department of Agriculture Rural Development NI
Federation of European Aquaculture Producers
Fisheries Research Services
Fish Vet Group
Fish Veterinary Society
Grayling Society
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Institute of Aquaculture
Institute of Fisheries Management
Lantra
Marine Conservation Society
Macrae Food Group
National Association of Fishing and Angling Consultatives
National Farmers Union (Scotland)
North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO)
Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association
Pike Anglers' Alliance for Scotland
Pike Anglers' Association of Scotland
Pike Anglers' Club of Great Britain
Professor Phil Thomas
Rivers and Fisheries Trust for Scotland
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Salmon and Trout Association
Scottish Anglers' National Association
Scottish Association for Marine Service
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling
Scottish Members of the European Parliament
Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation
Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Scottish Scallop Fishermen's Association
Sea Fish Industry Authority
Shetland Aquaculture
Society for the Protection of Salmon and Sea Trout
Specialist Anglers' Alliance
Welsh Assembly Government
Western Isles Aquaculture Association
All Scottish registered Fish and Shellfish Businesses