Press Release - National Beef Association welcomes the move to Blue Tongue Freedom

National Beef Association welcomes the move to Blue Tongue Freedom

The National Beef Association welcomes the announcement by the Minister of State that GB (England, Scotland and Wales) will declare Freedom from BTV8 on Tuesday July 5th 2011 and all blue tongue restrictions on cattle and sheep exported from Great Britain will be lifted from this date.  
This means that a vaccination against BTV8 will no longer be required for cattle exports and it will not be legal to use vaccination for BTV in GB from this date.
Cattle producers and vets alike will be pleased to know that once GB gains its Freedom Status on July 5th, they will not have to struggle their way through the Blue Tongue Guidance Notes.  The only Blue Tongue requirement, which will continue to apply, is insecticide treatment for any movement through a restricted zone. 
The Government will continue to press for changes at European level so vaccination can be used more flexibly in future.

The stringent conditions for animals imported from other Bluetongue zones will remain in place. It is vital that livestock keepers continue to source responsibly and check the health and vaccination status of their animals.

The NBA had anticipated amendments to the Bluetongue Directive, which would have permitted vaccination in Blue Tongue free areas. However these changes at European level have been delayed and are not expected until autumn 2011.

The move to a BTV Freedom Status was the best way to protect our livestock so that ruminants coming from Restricted Areas have to comply with the rules. 

This will make overseas trade simpler for us. Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, and Austria have declared freedom already and it is likely that other more northern member states will do the same as soon as they can show 2 years of freedom (later this summer for some).
Vaccination has been very successful against BTV so that the virus has been removed from Northern Europe and various strains persist around the Mediterranean and will continue to do so.   It is also believed that there is not enough virus circulating in Europe for a windborne incursion to happen and the risk from imported livestock is low.
BTV is a Notifiable Disease in the EU and Member States have to report cases to the EU. There has been a rumour that France was not reporting cases because the virus was endemic but this is not correct.
For information contact: Kim Haywood, NBA Director, Tel: 0131 336 1754 or Mobile: 07967 698936