As part of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Northern Ireland (NI) remains subject to European animal health regulations and therefore sheep being exported from Great Britain (GB) - now a ‘third country’ (i.e. not in the Single Market) - to Northern Ireland are subject to new rules.
In order to minimise the risk of disease, these new rules include a 40 day standstill on the same holding before movement and additional requirements regarding scrapie.
Live sheep exports to NI for breeding and production (fattening) and their germplasm (semen, ova and embryos) must meet the new requirements for scrapie by either:
- The animals come from holdings that meet the legal definition of ‘controlled risk’ for scrapie. In practice in GB, this means that they must have been part of the Scrapie Monitoring Scheme (SMS) run by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) for at least three years;
Or, - They have a genetic test which shows they are resistant to the disease and they come from a golding which has had no restrictions imposed due to BSE or scrapie during the last two years.
Further information on SMS membership can be found here.
Those who meet the above requirements must also follow the same additional endemic disease certification requirements for trade from GB to the EU when exporting to NI.