Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 25th November, 2014.

I, SIMON COVENEY, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 36 and 63 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (No. 15 of 2013) and for the purposes of giving further effect to Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000¹ , hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Animal Health and Welfare (Bovine Movement) Regulations 2014.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 1 January 2015.

2. (1) These Regulations apply to bovines.

(2) In these Regulations-

"Act" means the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 ;

"certificate of compliance" means a document relating to an animal issued under Regulation 3;

"holding" means any establishment, construction or in the case of an open-air farm, any place in which bovines are kept situated within the State;

"movement permit" means a movement permit issued under the Diseases of Animals Acts 1966 to 2001, a notice issued under Regulations 17 and 19 of the European Communities (Identification of Bovines) Regulations 2009 ( S.I. No. 77 of 2009 ) or a permit or notice issued under the Act for the purposes of controlling or restricting movement of bovines;

"official identification number" means a number assigned by the Minister to a holding and, in the case of a holding occupied by a herd, shall constitute all lands and buildings used by the herd.

(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 has, in these Regulations, the same meaning as it has in Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000.

3. (1) Subject to paragraph (4), a keeper shall not move a bovine, or cause or permit another person to move a bovine, to or from a holding unless he or she is in possession of a movement permit or a valid certificate of compliance and such keeper shall present the movement permit or certificate of compliance to an authorised officer on request.

(2) An application for a certificate of compliance shall be in a form, contain any information and be made in a manner determined by the Minister.

(3) The Minister may issue, or cause to be issued, a certificate of compliance, valid for the time specified on the certificate, in respect of a bovine.

(4) Paragraph (1) does not apply to the movement of a bovine-

(a) directly to slaughter,

(b) to an export assembly centre,

(c) to the holding of a person approved by the Minister to operate the online dealer facility, or

(d) to or from a mart.

4. (1) A person shall not-

(a) slaughter a bovine for human consumption or permit an animal to be slaughtered for human consumption, or

(b) export a bovine or permit the bovine to be exported

unless its current status, origin and identification has been checked on the Minister’s bovine animal tracing system and is approved by the Minister.

(2) An operator of a mart or his or her employee, servant or agent shall not sell, supply or move a bovine unless its current status, origin and identification has been checked on the Minister’s bovine animal tracing system and is approved by the Minister.

(3) A person approved by the Minister to operate the online dealer facility or his or her employee, servant or agent shall not sell, supply or move a bovine unless its current status, origin and identification has been checked on the Minister’s bovine animal tracing system and is approved by the Minister.

5. (1) A person shall notify the Minister within 7 days of the following-

(a) the movement of a bovine to or from that person’s holding (hereinafter referred to as an "animal movement notification"), or

(b) the death of a bovine on that person’s holding (hereinafter referred to as an "animal death notification").

(2) A person who notifies the Minister under paragraph (1) shall include the details of any person that was involved in the purchase, sale, supply or movement of the bovine in or out of the premises or holding unless that person was solely engaged to transport the bovine.

(3) An animal movement notification and an animal death notification shall be made in the format determined by the Minister.

6. (1) A person, shall not, without lawful authority, take possession of, move or cause or permit the movement of a bovine unless that person has been assigned an official identification number by the Minister except that person has been solely engaged to transport the animal.

(2) A person shall not use an official identification number assigned by the Minister allocated or assigned to another person unless the person is authorised to act on behalf of the person to whom the number has been allocated or assigned and shall produce evidence of such authorisation to an authorised officer on request.

7. (1) A person shall supply an authorised officer, upon request, with all information concerning the origin, identification, the movement and destination of a bovine that the person has owned, kept, moved, transported, sold, supplied or otherwise handled or slaughtered.

(2) A person shall not, in purported compliance with paragraph (1), give information that is false and misleading.

(3) A person shall not give false or misleading information or be reckless in giving information to any other person or the Minister concerning-

(a) the identity of a bovine,

(b) herd of origin of a bovine,

(c) the destination of a bovine,

(d) the current location of a bovine, or

(e) the movement of a bovine.

8. A person shall not contravene or fail to comply with-

(a) Regulation 3(1), 4, 5, 6 or 7, or

(b) Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

19 November 2014.

SIMON COVENEY,

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

These Regulations provide for the notification of animal movements and the death of an animal. The Regulations also provide for the issue of a certificate of compliance or the verification of the current status, origin and identification of an animal for certain movements.

1 OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1.