BEIC calls special salmonella meeting
The British Egg Industry Council has called a special meeting to consider the implications for egg producers of new rules being introduced to control salmonella.
As reported previously in the Ranger, new legislation is being rolled out across Europe as part of the EU’s Zoonoses regulations. This means that from January 2008 egg producers will by law have to take environmental samples every 15 weeks from buildings housing layers. The samples will consist of boot swabs for free range producers.
On top of this, farms will be visited once a year by an official from the “competent authority” when further samples will be taken from one house on the holding.
While a recent survey conducted across the UK showed the overwhelming majority of farms to be free of salmonella, the consequences of finding a positive are huge. The EU is proposing to ban the retail sale of eggs from any unit that is not free of Salmonella Enteritidis or Salmonella Typhimurium. The only permitted outlet for eggs from a positive flock will be to a processor for heat treatment. But there will be no compensation for the eggs’ loss of value or, in the event of processors refusing to take eggs from positive flocks, for the disposal of the eggs or for flocks that have to be slaughtered.
Originally the retail ban was due to be introduced in 2010 which would have given any farms with a salmonella problem a reasonable period of time to sort it out. But there are moves within Brussels to bring the ban on the retail sale of eggs forward to 2008, something the BEIC is vehemently opposed to.
“This would give producers just one flock turnaround to ensure their units are free of SE and ST,” says chief executive Mark Williams, who is lobbying hard for the retention of the 2010 date. “By sticking to the 2010 date producers will have three years to find out the status of their units and do something about it if necessary.”
The BEIC is planning to introduce new sampling measures under the Lion code—likely to start in January—which would mirror the tests required by the EU.
Mr Williams is also pressing for the new rules to allow producers the option to seek confirmation of any positive result that may be discovered from environmental samples.
“We have always maintained that finding salmonella in an environmental sample does not necessarily mean the eggs are infected—that is why we vaccinate flocks. It is only right that producers should be given the chance to seek confirmation by further testing.”
If permitted, confirmatory testing is likely to be based on the testing of eggs or the carcasses of culled birds—but it will not come cheap.
“A major concern is that the cost of this testing could run into thousands and the bill would have to be picked up by the producer,” Mr Williams told the Ranger.
“If the birds are nearing the end of lay, or for a small scale producer, the costs could prove prohibitive.”
The BEIC is urging egg producers as well as rearers and breeders, to attend a meeting later this month where all aspects of the new legislation will be considered as well as advice on how to achieve a salmonella-free status.
Speakers will include representatives from Defra, the Veterinary Laboratory Agency, a specialist poultry vet and Mark Williams, who commented: “This legislation will have serious implications for the whole of the egg industry and it is vitally important that anyone with an involvement in the industry attends.”
The meeting will be held at Stoneleigh Park on 29 September, commencing at 10.30. For further details or to register attendance, contact the BEIC on 020 7608 3760 or BEIC@britisheggindustrycouncil.com
