Help is at hand to support you to prevent disease and to promote good biosecurity. Many agencies work together to help you protect your animals, our people, country and environment. Some of these agencies produce guidance which is statutory, or required legally, as detailed where appropriate below.
Scottish Government and Defra work together to reduce the chance of disease getting into the animal population, detect it quickly if it does and deal with it through preventative measures. Together these organisations produce advice and guidance to farmers and to vets on disease prevention and control. This helps animals suffer less and allows the livestock industry to carry on without expensive, stressful and restrictive disruptions caused by disease outbreaks.
It is a legal requirement for all animals and places where animals are kept to be registered. In order to avoid and control disease, animals including poultry are subject to these legal requirements, allowing disease to be traced quickly.
Details of identification, registration and movement record requirements for each species can be found on the UK Government website.
Marine Scotland Directorate is responsible for integrated management of Scotland’s seas. Scotland’s Aquaculture website provides a single point of access to aquaculture information held by the main regulators of the Scottish aquaculture industry.
Additional information on requirements for different animals is available in the species specific resources section of this website.
Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)
Defra works together with the Scottish Government to reduce the chance of disease getting into the animal population, detect it quickly if it does and deal with it through preventative measures. Together these organisations produce advice and guidance to farmers and to vets on disease prevention and control. This helps animals suffer less and allows the livestock industry to carry on without expensive, stressful and restrictive disruptions caused by disease outbreaks.
It is a legal requirement for all animals and places where animals are kept to be registered. In order to avoid and control disease, animals including poultry are subject to these legal requirements, allowing disease to be traced quickly.
Details of identification, registration and movement record requirements for each species can be found on the UK Government website.
Additional information on specific legal requirements for different animals is available in the Species Specific Guidance section of this website.
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
APHA is an agency of Defra. It is responsible for the protection of animal health and welfare, involving the reporting, prevention and control of animal disease;, including animal identification, registration and traceability. It also oversees imports and exports of live animals and their products, and the monitoring of residues of medicines in live animals, feed, eggs and milk.
Your local authority have statutory duties under animal health and welfare legislation, which protect animal welfare, underpin disease avoidance and allow people working for Scottish Government and Defra/APHA to carry out control measures when disease outbreaks occur.
Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (SGRPID)
SGRPID oversees financial incentives and schemes offering advice and guidance to livestock owners and keepers, and carries out inspections with respect to identification and traceability.
FSS is involved all along the food chain to ensure that food is safe and authentic. One of the first steps in production of safe meat is farm hygiene and ensuring that only clean animals leave farms for slaughter.
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA)
SEPA has the role of making sure that the environment and human health are protected.
Nature Scot is Scotland’s nature agency and works to improve our natural environment in Scotland and inspire everyone to care more about it.