Camels
Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Written answers and statements, 3 November 2009
Daniel Rogerson (North Cornwall, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations govern the on-farm burial of (a) camelids and (b) companion sheep or cattle.
Jim Fitzpatrick (Minister of State (Minister for Food, Farming and Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Poplar & Canning Town, Labour)
On-farm burial has been banned since 2003, when it was introduced as part of a wider set of controls on animal by-products by the EU Animal By-products Regulation 1774/2002. This Regulation is implemented in England by the Animal By-Products Regulations 2005, and by similar legislation in the rest of the UK. The ban applies to both camelids and companion sheep or cattle.
Scientific evidence shows that the degradation process essential to ensure reduction of BSE/TSE infectivity cannot be guaranteed by burial. Even after burial scrapie infected material can persist in the soil for years and present a source of infection. Improper burial can also cause pollution problems and lead to the spread of other diseases that threaten animal and public health.