Jim Paice MP
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food
Department of Environment, food and Rural affairs
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

04 October 2011

Dear Jim,

Export of live calves

Thank you for your letter of 19th September. I am pleased that AHVLA follow up non-returned and non-compliant journey logs.

As you know from my letter of 9th August I am particularly concerned to ensure that in the case of journeys that exceed 18 hours, calves are unloaded and rested after 18 hours travel at most, in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 1/2005. The Regulation requires calves to be given a 12 hour rest period if the 18 hour travelling time was exceeded while the calves were at sea, but a 24 hour rest if the 18 hours was reached during the road journey on the continent.

I fear that just checking returned journey logs may not be sufficient to identify cases where calves have not been unloaded and rested as required by the Regulation. A transporter who does not respect the requirement to unload and rest animals after 18 hours may also be prepared to return a journey log that inaccurately shows that the required rest was provided.

I would be grateful if you would consider asking AHVLA to periodically ask the competent authority of the Member State in which the animals should have been unloaded and rested to confirm whether a rest break was provided and, if so, whether it was of sufficient duration to meet the requirements of Regulation 1/2005.

The competent authority should be able to provide this information as under Article 5(h) and paragraph C7 of Council Regulation 1255/97 the operator of a control post must, within one working day after departure of a consignment, notify the competent authority of the date and time of completion of unloading and commencement of reloading of each consignment.
On a related point, it is important, particularly as the sea weather is likely to become rougher in the coming months which can lead to late arrival of the ship, that there are suitable facilities near Ramsgate (and Dover if the trade from Dover resumes) where animals can be unloaded in the event of detected non-compliances or delays.
Report 2009/8268 by the Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) drew attention to this problem. The FVO gave three examples of animals that had to be sent over 300 km from Dover to suitable premises where serious non-compliances could be addressed.
I would be grateful if you could let me know whether there are suitable facilities near Ramsgate and Dover where animals can be unloaded in the event of detected non-compliances or delays.

If there are no such facilities near Ramsgate and Dover the UK may be unable to comply with certain provisions in Regulation 1/2005. Article 22(2) provides that "if any consignment of animals has to be detained during transport for more than two hours, the competent authority shall ensure that appropriate arrangements are made for the care of the animals and, where necessary, their feeding, watering, unloading and accommodation".
Section 23 provides that in the event of non-compliance the competent authority "shall take, or require the person responsible for the animals to take, any necessary action required to safeguard the welfare of the animals" and that such action may include"unloading the animals and holding them in suitable accommodation with appropriate care until the problem is resolved".
I look forward to your further response.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion