Artificial breeding control repayment charges

Defra has found an error in legislation following a review of the cattle and pigs Artificial Breeding Controls (ABC) Regulations which meant that the department does not have an adequate legal basis to charge for certain services.

All payments without an adequate basis which have been made over the past six years will be refunded with interest. The regulations are now being amended and updated to allow charges to be made.

The services are tests for campylobacter in cattle and exit and follow-up tests on pigs. It also applies to a second series of tests on cattle subject to semen collection for intra-Community trade and pigs subject to semen collection for domestic and intra-Community trade.

The second series tests subject cattle to testing for brucellosis, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, campylobacter foetus and trichomonas foetus and subject pigs to testing for brucellosis and Aujeszky's disease.

The charges for these services are suspended with immediate effect. Customers are to be refunded the fees collected for these services for the six-year period prior to this suspension. Fees for which there is a legal base will continue to be charged.

Defra has not imposed a charge for the second series testing on cattle for bovine viral diarrhoea and so there is no refund for this test.

Artificial insemination centres that are currently operating and those that have closed in the last six years will be informed of the changes. In most cases Defra will be writing to the ABC Centres where the Centre has acted as an agent for the owner of a donor animal.

Animal owners may wish to contact currently operating insemination centres they have used in the last six years to discuss any repayment issues they have.