The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) is seeking to make it easier for farmers to notify it of cattle deaths.
Under the Bovine Identification and Traceability Order 2007, farmers must notify authorities of an animal’s death within seven days.
However, there are two pathways for farmers to return cattle passports to DEFA upon an animal’s death: directly via DEFA or via the Animal Waste Processing Plant. In addition, two parties are obliged to notify DEFA of cattle deaths, the farmer and the Department of Infrastructure, operator of the Animal Waste Processing Plant.
This has, on occasion, led to the loss of paperwork/failure to correctly notify DEFA of an animal’s death, the Department says.
The Department is consulting the public over a change in regulation which would mean farmers simply notify DEFA direct, returning the animal’s passport to the Department.
The consultation can be found at www.gov.im/consultations
