Vol. 438 No. 7
7 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, he proposes to take in order to prevent the importation into Ireland of stallions which test positive for equine viral arteritis, EVA; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Stallions coming from countries outside the EU must undergo a test for EVA with negative results, prior to export.
There are common veterinary conditions under which horses may move between EU countries. At present these rules do not include any provisions in regard to EVA.
However, I have asked the EU Commission to consider the introduction of EVA pre-export controls on stallions.
EVA is a notifiable disease which has not occurred in Ireland to date. My Department has written to all stallion owners asking them to have their stallions tested and they have been advised to follow the recommendation of a code of practice to prevent EVA. In addition, a regulation is being drafted to control outbreaks of the disease, should outbreaks occur.
I am glad to hear that a regulation is being drafted. Would the Minister agree that it will be too late at that stage? Is the Minister aware that there are plans to import an EVA positive stallion from Germany — I am not sure from where that stallion originated? Would the Minister agree that in our position we are extremely vulnerable to a rapid spread of this highly transmissible disease?
I am aware that a resident of County Kildare has purchased and imported a stallion from Germany. While the blood tests on the animal show EVA anti-bodies they indicate that it has not had recent contact with the disease and does not pose any risk of spread through the respiratory route. Provided it is not used for breeding the animal does not pose a risk of transmitting the disease. The animal is 18 years old, is intended for dressage use and the owner has given an undertaking that it will not and never has been used for breeding purposes.
I should like to inform the House of the measures taken by the Department to control EVA. Stallions have been identified as the most dangerous source of the spread of EVA so the Department has recently written to stallion owners alerting them to the risks of EVA and asking them to have their stallions tested. The test will be conducted free of charge until 1 April 1994 and they are advised to apply the recommendations of the common code of practice on the control of EVA. Vaccination of stallions has been permitted on a trial basis although as yet there is not an EU approved EVA vaccine. Notices have been placed in the national newspapers regarding the disease and the EU Commission has been asked to introduce pre-export controls on stallions moving in intra-Community trade. A regulation to deal with outbreaks is being prepared by a parliamentary draftsman. In general the Department is well aware of and is concerned about this and other measures are being looked at.
Would the Minister agree that any regulations we might pass here could affect only the practice as it is carried on here? Would he further agree that those regulations cannot do anything to resolve the anomaly between the fact that imports of stallions from outside the EU require this certificate whereas imports from within the EU do not? Will the Minister say what action, if any, the Government proposes to take in order to align controls in the two cases?
We have asked the EU Commission to introduce pre-export controls on intra-Community trade. We are seeking this as a matter of urgency.
What has been the reaction of the Commission to the proposal?
We are awaiting its response.
