Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 February 2017
391. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to change the current restrictions regarding the holding standstill period for sheep prior to export; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9467/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe standstill period is enshrined in EU legislation which provides that breeding and fattening sheep must be certified as having been continuously resident on a holding of origin for at least 30 days prior to export, including a "standstill" period of 21 days prior to export during which time no sheep have been introduced on to the holding. A derogation applies where sheep introduced during the standstill period are completely isolated from all other animals on the holding. To avail of this derogation, isolation must be notified to and pre-approved by my Department. Sheep being exported for slaughter must be resident on the holding of origin for 21 days but a standstill period is not required if the animals are consigned directly to a slaughterhouse in another Member State. A 21 days standstill period is required in the event that sheep for slaughter are exported from an approved assembly centre or dealer's premises and/or stop at a staging point in another Member State (transit or destination).
The rules on intra-Community trade in sheep, in particular, the "standstill" requirement, stem from the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001, the general view being that movements of sheep largely contributed to the spread of the disease. The rationale for these requirements is to ensure that sheep going for export do not come in contact with other animals or become infected following such contact.
Sheep exports rose to nearly 47,000 head last year, up from 32,000 in 2015.
