Originally from: mona parr
                        
DEFRA NEWS RELEASE

NATIONAL SCRAPIE PLAN – CONSULTATION ON STRATEGIC OPTIONS TO MEET THE LONG TERM AIM OF ERADICATING SCRAPIE FROM THE NATIONAL FLOCK

 
Animal Health Minister Ben Bradshaw announced today a public consultation on strategic options for the National Scrapie Plan (NSP) in the light of EU requirements for the introduction of a compulsory genotype based breeding programme from April 2005.

Announcing the start of the consultation process, Mr Bradshaw said:

"Since its launch in 2001, over 10,000 purebred flocks have been entered into the plan's main genotyping schemes with over one million samples having been taken. This success is not only a tribute to industry's willingness to make progress itself, but also to the way in which the NSP has been developed in partnership over the last 3 years with Government, individual farmers, sheep breed societies and representative bodies such as the National Sheep Association and the National Farmers Union. This is a good example of how we intend to work under the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy"

"The need to introduce a compulsory genotype based breeding programme in 2005 has provided a timely opportunity to review and evaluate how the NSP's vision
– to eradicate TSEs from the national flock and thereby protect public health
– can continue to be met and how the EU requirements can be implemented in Great Britain. "

"This consultation exercise provides a further opportunity for all our partners to help develop a sustainable strategy for the NSP which best suits our varied and diverse sheep industry and critically one which delivers positive public and animal health benefits by reducing and eventually eradicating scrapie infection from the national sheep flock".

Under these proposals, all purebred flocks which sell homebred rams for further breeding, of which a large proportion are already participating in the voluntary NSP, will be subject to the rules of the compulsory breeding programme.

Notes for editors

1. Scrapie is a fatal neurological disease of sheep. It has been present in the national flock for over 250 years, but is not considered to be transmissible to humans. There is a theoretical risk that BSE is present in sheep in the UK, masked by scrapie, although it has not been found occurring naturally. The National Scrapie Plan addresses the theoretical possibility of BSE being present in sheep.

2. The National Scrapie Plan for Great Britain involves a voluntary, long-term programme of breeding for genetic resistance. It encourages participating flock owners to breed from and use scrapie resistant sheep.

3. Commission Decision 2003/100\EC1 sets minimum requirements for the introduction of EU-wide genotype based breeding programmes, including the slaughter or castration of VRQ rams and movement restrictions on ewes of known VRQ genotype. These minimum requirements which Member States may choose to exceed apply on a voluntary basis from 1 January 2004 but will become compulsory from April 2005.

5. The consultation period expires on 13 October 2004.

6. This consultation document is published on the internet at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/nsp-stratreview/index.htm. The NSP website can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/nsp.

7. The National Scrapie Plan is kept under regular review, in the light of scientific and other developments.