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Foot and mouth regs row

21st February 2002
Page 7
Page 7, 21st February 2002 — Foot and mouth regs row
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

• by Mks Gorden Livestock hauliers are outraged by new footand-mouth regulations which they describe as a "step backwards" and which they warn could lead to further outbreaks of the disease.

Stringent cleansing and disinfection requirements have been relaxed by the Department for the Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). From now on neither farmers nor hauliers will be required to clean and disinfect their trailers at slaughterhouses. Instead they will be able to return to their own premises, with the risk of potentially disease carrying liquids seeping from their vehicles.

Also, farmers are allowed to clean vehicles on their farms, while hauliers have to go to DEFRA-approved sites for any journeys more than 10km long. There they must get trailers cleaned and sealed and obtain certificates to prove it, which can cost up to £50.

Graham Gilder, managing director Of Graham Gilder Livestock, says: "We all have sluice traps fitted but these cannot guarantee that no contaminated materials will leak from the trailers. It is a nonsense to have two different sets of regulations. Hauliers normally keep their vehicles in far better condition than farmers. We certainly won't allow any farmers to leave our collection centre dirty."

A DEFRA spokeswoman says that local authorities will spot-check farmers and the new regulations will be kept under review.

Multiple collections and deliveries can only be made if the loading and unloading facilities on each farm are at the perimeter and have been approved by DEFRA. Hauliers can do no more than five collections per trip, and they must all go to the same destination.

Eddie Harper, chairman of the RI-IA's Livestock Hauliers Group, says: 'We had all got used to a system whereby every vehicle was guaranteed clean. This is a backwards step."


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