DEFRA publishes 2002 Chief Veterinary Officers annual report

Defra today published the "Report of the Chief Veterinary Officer - Animal Health 2002", which looks back over developments in animal health and welfare in Great Britain during the last calendar year.

The report highlights a quieter year following the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) epidemic, although the Department faced a number of new and on-going challenges, including the need to restart work disrupted in 2001 and recover lost ground.

Great Britain regained its "FMD-free status" from the OIE in January 2002 and significant progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the two independent FMD inquiries commissioned by the Government.

In particular, attention has focussed on developing contingency plans and improving the Government's emergency preparedness in case of another major disease outbreak.

Among other major issues faced by the Defra and the devolved administrations in 2002 were:

- the ongoing animal movement regime controls

- the creation of an Illegal Meat Import Action Plan to improve the

detection of illegally imported food products

- controls imposed on personal imports of animal products

- extending the Pet Travel Scheme to North America and Bahrain

- dealing with cases of European Bat Lyssavirus in England and

Scotland

- removing the backlog of overdue bovine TB tests

- driving forward the National Scrapie Plan

- continuing to monitor the declining BSE epidemic.

The Government was also busy in adopting EU legislation in a number of animal health and welfare areas as well as bringing forward important Strategies. These include:

- driving forward the Animal Health Act 2002 in the aftermath of FMD

- consulting on a proposed Animal Welfare Bill on the welfare of

animals kept by humans

- consulting on a new Veterinary Surveillance Strategy for the UK,

which will facilitate prompt and appropriate decisions regarding

animal and human health and the safety of food.

- introducing a scoping document on the new GB Animal Health and

Welfare Strategy following publication of the Policy Commission's

report on the Future of Food and Farming.

- working towards transposing the introduction of the Animal

By-Products Order.

Chief Veterinary Officer Jim Scudamore said:

"I am delighted Great Britain was able to regain its FMD-free status so quickly after the 2001 epidemic, and with the progress that has been made in developing strategies and contingency plans to counter possible future outbreaks both key recommendations of the FMD inquiries. This is a major achievement when put in context of the many new and on-going challenges we have faced and the need to recover ground lost as a result of FMD.

"In response to the key recommendations from the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food and the FMD Lessons Learned Inquiry, good progress has been made this year on the development of a comprehensive ten-year Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain.

"In the light of detailed consultations with the industry, and working in partnership with our colleagues in Scotland and Wales, we are aiming to publish an outline Strategy for public consultation later this Summer. The Strategy will set out a clear path towards the delivery of a sustainable future for animal health and welfare," he added.