Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 531, on live animal exports, which companies have received verbal warnings from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency in the last six months; how many such warnings each company has received; for what reasons each warning was issued; what further action has been taken against any recipients of the warnings; and if he will estimate the effect of such warnings on those companies' compliance with other animal welfare provisions.
[135863]
Answer
In the last six months, the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) have issued two verbal warnings on transporters undertaking live animal exports from Ramsgate Port. The reasons for the two verbal warnings were (1) a transporter not having the means to measure the water level in the tank containing the animals drinking water; however, the AHVLA inspector could see there was sufficient water for the journey: and (2) one ventilation fan was not functioning at the time of inspection, but was fixed by the driver before the journey continued. No further action was taken against the two transporters, although the warnings have been recorded and will be taken into account if further infringements of the legislation are made by the same transporters. See:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/publication/advice-wato-enforcement/
for further details on AHVLA's regulatory policy.
The AHVLA cannot provide information on which transport companies the verbal warnings were issued to. To do so would be discriminatory and given safety concerns, such disclosure would not be an appropriate measure.