Vol. 438 No. 7
210 Mr. McManus asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he intends to respond to the call by Irish vets for the introduction of a rest period for imported cattle to prevent the spread of BIV; the steps, if any, he intends to take to guard against BIV spreading to the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Trade in live cattle between member states of the European Union is governed by harmonised rules which do not provide for the imposition of a rest period. Nevertheless, importers are entitled to seek whatever standards they wish in their private purchasing contracts and are always encouraged by my Department to exercise maximum vigilance in regard to the health of imported animals. This has become particularly significant since the removal of frontier controls.
Regarding the recent press reports on BIV I understand that a small number of positive serological reactions have been confirmed in a herd in Great Britain, but no virus has been isolated. The fact that there is a serological reaction to BIV does not mean that the disease is present. All information to date shows that it is a non-pathogenic virus. In any case there is already in place a ban on the exportation of cattle (with very minor exceptions) from the UK to Ireland or to any other EU country.
