Explanatory note

This Order continues to implement Council Directive 2000/75/EC laying down specific provisions for the control and eradication of bluetongue. It revokes and remakes the Bluetongue Order 2003 in order to enforce Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1266/2007.

The Order provides that references to the Commission Regulation are references to it as amended from time to time (article 10(4)).

The principal change to the 2003 Order is that movement licences in zones controlled or restricted for the purposes of bluetongue control must be in accordance with the Commission Regulation rather than the Commission Decision that it replaces.

Part 2 of the Order provides for the reporting of symptoms of bluetongue and for the establishment of control zones and restricted zones. Unlike in the previous Order, these zones can now be of a size appropriate for the control of bluetongue. It controls the movement of animals from those zones. It also provides for the separation of a restricted zone into a protection zone and a surveillance zone, and controls movement between these zones.

It provides for surveillance for bluetongue (article 17) and prohibits vaccination against bluetongue without the consent of the Secretary of State (article 18).

Part 3 makes provision for enforcement.

It is enforced by the local authority.

Failure to comply with this Order is an offence under section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981.

An Impact Assessment has not been prepared for this Order.