Sources-farmersguardian
The new regulations which will be written into legislation from October follow a recent consultation by Defra on the existing Pigs, Records, Identification and Movements Order (PRIMO) 2007 and mean farmers will have to provide notice before any pigs are taken off-farm.
The Animal Movement Licensing System (AMLS) was introduced after the 2001 foot-and-mouth disaster.
It records movements of sheep, goats, pigs and deer, which are sent on paper to Local Authorities who input movements manually. The system helps officials to track where animals have been in an outbreak.
BPEX’s Dorothea Schiemann said there would be a transitional period of six months for the phasing out of the paper-based AML2 forms, planned to start from October 1. This will give producers and businesses the opportunity to adjust to the change in process.
“From April 2012 the AML2 paper forms will cease to be a valid method of reporting movements. Pig movements will either have to be reported using the free eAML2 online service or the free eAML2 bureau service and there will also be third party agents such as marketing groups or the British Pig Association.”
Following extensive trialling, the eAML2 system for farm to slaughter movements was launched in April 2011 across England and Wales. The functions for movements from farm to farm, market, collection centre and show, and for import and export, will be introduced next year.
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