Export of Animals (Protection) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order prohibits the export of farm animals from Northern Ireland to any place outside Great Britain, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or another member State of the European Union unless they are rested at approved premises for at least 10 hours before they are exported (Articles 3 and 4). The Order requires the provision of adequate and accessible food, water, shelter and bedding and limits the number of each species of animal which may be put at one time into any one pen or enclosure on approved premises (Article 5).

It enables an inspector to require the isolation at the approved premises of animals which are ailing or are causing or are likely to cause injury or unnecessary suffering to other animals (Article 6), imposes a duty upon the person in charge of approved premises to provide information to an inspector (Article 7) and provides for the cleansing and disinfection of pens etc, at the approved premises (Article 8).

It further provides that animals may not be loaded for international transport unless such loading takes place in the presence of an officer of the Department and a veterinary inspector has certified that he has examined the animals and found them to be fit for transportation (Article 9). The Order also empowers an inspector to prohibit the transportation of unfit animals or to require the resting or treatment of such an animal (Article 10). The transportation of animals by sea or by air is also prohibited when the master of a vessel or pilot of an aircraft anticipates adverse weather conditions (Article 12).

The Department is empowered to grant a licence exempting certain categories of animals from any of the provisions of the Order other than the provisions of Articles 10, 11 and 12 (Article 13).

Any person who without lawful authority, or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him, contravenes any provision of this Order shall be guilty of an offence against the Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. The penalties for such an offence are, on summary conviction, a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000) or in the case of an offence committed with respect to more than 5 animals, not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale (currently £1,000) for each animal.