I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. In recent years there has been an increasing tendency under which the older system of hatching eggs on the farm, either by natural means or in incubators, is being replaced by the distribution of day-old chicks from large-scale commercial hatcheries. Some 24 large commercial hatcheries are already in operation in different parts of the country and it is understood that the establishment of several additional such hatcheries in the near future is contemplated. In addition a considerable number of poultry-keepers throughout the country who have facilities for artificial incubation engage in the sale of day-old chicks.
While the establishment of commercial hatcheries is considered to be a very desirable development and has many advantages as compared with the hatching of eggs on the farm, there is no doubt that the danger of outbreaks of disease on a large scale in poultry flocks will increase correspondingly as hatcheries increase in size and number. The existing commercial hatcheries are subject to no control whatsoever as regards the sources from which eggs are obtained or the conditions under which incubation is carried out and chicks are distributed. The same position obtains with regard to other distributors of chicks, except where these are holders of poultry stations under my Department's Poultry Stations Scheme. Moreover, in many cases the hatchery owner or poultry-keeper exercises no discrimination in the selection of eggs for incubation, with the result that the chicks distributed are of very doubtful quality.
The Committee of Inquiry on Post-Emergency Agricultural Policy recommended that distributors of hatching eggs and day-old chicks should be licensed under conditions to be determined by the Department of Agriculture and that holders of hatchery licences should be prohibited from in cubating eggs other than those derived from flocks certified to be blood-tested and free from disease.
The proposed legislation to provide for the licensing of hatcheries, as outlined in the Poultry Hatcheries Bill, has the twofold object of ensuring (1) that the eggs used for hatching in hatcheries are derived from flocks of suitable type and quality which are free from disease, and (2) that the production and distribution of chicks by hatcheries are carried out under conditions calculated to reduce to a minimum the danger of spreading disease. It is not feasible at this stage to extend the scope of the Bill so as to provide that other distributors of day-old chicks and distributors of hatching eggs, should be licensed, but such a development can be considered at some suitable time in the future when the present Bill dealing with the licensing of hatcheries is in full operation.
The Bill provides that when enacted it shall come into operation at such times as may be fixed by Order of the Minister for Agriculture. The present intention is that the Act will be brought into operation in two stages, as follows:—
Stage 1. This will include the operation of Parts I, II, IV and Sections 15 to 18 in Part III of the Act.
Stage 2. This will involve bringing into operation Sections 12 to 14 in Part III of the Act whereupon Sections 15 to 18 will cease to operate.
Stage 1 will be taken as soon as practicable after the enactment of the Bill. At this stage poultry hatcheries, other than those classes that may be exempted, will be prohibited from operating except under licence to be issued each year subject to such conditions as the Minister for Agriculture may think proper. Provision is made in the Bill for the Minister to make regulations exempting from the licensing requirements hatcheries of certain classes to be defined in such regulations; for example, hatcheries which do not engage in the production of chicks for sale or of which the hatching capacity is less than a specified minimum. Egg supplies for a licensed hatchery will have to be obtained from farms the owners of which have been granted "provisional permits" each year to supply eggs to licensed hatcheries.
This "provisional permit" arrangement, which is intended to be of a temporary nature, was devised to get over the difficulty arising from the fact that the hatcheries at present in operation are getting hatching eggs from many farms that are not of the standard that will ultimately be required for "approved egg supply farms". Therefore, in order not to disorganise the working of existing hatcheries, it will be necessary for some time to grant "provisional permits" to many of these farms and so give them the opportunity to qualify ultimately as "approved" farms. The provisional permit period will also afford an opportunity of determining the reliability and honesty of the owners of existing hatching-egg supply farms.
When Stage 2 is reached after Stage 1 has been developed for some years, licensed hatcheries will not be allowed to purchase eggs for hatching from any farm which is not "approved" each year as an egg supply farm. At this point the system of granting provisional permits will cease.
The Bill provides that the Minister for Agriculture may authorise persons to be inspectors for the purposes of the Act. Apart from a number of inspectors who will have to be appointed on the central staff of the Department of Agriculture, it is intended, when the Bill is enacted, to ask the county committees of agriculture to signify their agreement to having their poultry instructors authorised to be inspectors for the purposes of the Act. It is anticipated the committees of agriculture will, in general, be willing to agree to this course.
