Enforcement
The specialist Eggs and Poultry Unit forms part of the Livestock and Emergency Planning Branch. The Unit consists of 6 specialist staff (3 of which are based in the Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate's (RPID) headquarters in Edinburgh and a further officer in each of the Ayr, Perth and Inverurie offices) and is headed up by a Senior Agricultural Officer.
The Unit is tasked with enforcing the EU Egg Marketing Standard Regulations and Hatching Egg and Chick Regulations at all marketing stages (not including retail). It meets this demand by carrying out unannounced inspections on registered premises. Inspections are set and undertaken on the basis of risk analysis and during 2008 the target number of inspections set was met.
During the course of 2008 the number of registered premises in Scotland were as follows:
> 296 Egg Production sites with a potential to house 3.6 million laying hens.
> 217 Packing Centres packing 66,500 by 360 egg cases per week.
> 197 Egg Wholesalers marketing 64,500 by 360 egg cases per week.
> 9 Hatcheries with a total capacity for setting 5.7 million hen eggs.
Breakdown of the inspections undertaken during 2008Inspection Premises Type | No of Sites | No Inspected |
|---|
| Production Site | 296 | 221 |
| Packing Centre | 217 | 142 |
| Wholesaler | 197 | 124 |
| Hatchery | 9 | 2 |
The Unit is also responsible for collecting a minimum of 50 egg samples annually for analysis under The National Surveillance Programme for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).
Breakdown of VMD inspections undertaken in 2008Samples Taken By Production Type | Collected | Assayable |
|---|
| Free Range | 46 | 42 |
| Barn | 4 | 3 |
| Cage | 26 | 24 |
Additionally, during the course of the year the Unit was responsible for advising RPID's Staff HQ and Policy Divisions on all matters relating to the Scottish Poultry industry and advising the Food Standards Agency (Scotland) and Scottish Local Authority Consumer Protection Departments on egg and poultry related legislation.
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