S.I. No. 238/1963 - Bovine Tuberculosis (General Provisions) (Amendment) Order, 1963.

S.I. No. 238 of 1963.

BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS (GENERAL PROVISIONS) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1963.

I, PATRICK SMITH, Minister for Agriculture, it appearing to me to be necessary for the purpose of the progressive eradication of bovine tuberculosis, do hereby, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 22 of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894, and section 2 of the Diseases of Animals (Bovine Tuberculosis) Act, 1957 (No. 14 of 1957), as amended by section 5 of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1960 (No. 26 of 1960), order as follows:

1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Bovine Tuberculosis (General Provisions) (Amendment) Order, 1963.

(2) The Principal Order, the Bovine Tuberculosis (General Provisions) (Amendment) Order, 1961 ( S.I. No. 159 of 1961 ), and this Order may be cited together as the Bovine Tuberculosis (General Provisions) Order, 1957 to 1963.

(3) This Order shall come into operation on the 9th day of December, 1963.

2. In this Order "the Principal Order" means the Bovine Tuberculosis (General Provisions) Order, 1957 ( S.I. No. 219 of 1957 ).

3. The Bovine Tuberculosis (General Provisions) (Amendment) Order, 1960 ( S.I. No. 136 of 1960 ), is hereby revoked.

4. Article 3 of the Principal Order is hereby amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (5) (inserted by the Bovine Tuberculosis (General Provisions) (Amendment) Order, 1960):—

"(5) (a) Where a bovine animal gives a positive reaction to a test carried out in an area which is not an attested area, the veterinary surgeon who carried out the test shall, immediately on completion thereof, mark the animal by punching a diamond-shaped hole of five-eighths of an inch side in the left ear of the animal and inserting in the same ear an approved ear-tag bearing an approved disc, the approved disc being so fitted to the approved ear-tag that when the approved ear-tag is inserted the approved disc shall appear on the outside of the ear;

(b) the approved ear-tag shall bear the letters RCTOR, the identification letter of the county in which the test is carried out and a serial number, and the approved disc shall bear the legend `Department of Agriculture, Reactor';

(c) the owner or person in charge of the animal shall permit the veterinary surgeon to mark the animal as provided in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph;

(d) a person shall not efface, obliterate, alter or remove any mark applied pursuant to this Article, or apply any marking that could be confused with such marking;

(e) in this paragraph —`approved ear-tag' means an ear-tag which—

(i) is such that, when inserted in the ear of the animal, it becomes effectively closed, and if subsequently removed, cannot be used again,

(ii) is such that, if identification letters or numbers borne by the ear-tag are altered (whether by addition, deletion or variation), the alteration is evident as such, and

(iii) is made of rigid, durable material and is clearly legible;

'approved disc' means a disc made of rigid, durable material and having in the centre a slot of sufficient size to permit the disc when fitted to an approved ear-tag to move freely along the arm of the approved ear-tag."

5. (1) In the case of a test with tuberculin of an attested animal in an attested area, the owner or person in charge of the animal intended to be tested shall, before the commencement of the test, surrender to the veterinary surgeon carrying out the test the identity card issued by the Minister in respect of the animal.

(2) In the case of a test with tuberculin in an attested area of an animal which had given an inconclusive reaction to the immediately previous tuberculin test to which it has been subjected (such last-mentioned test not being a test pursuant to the Bovine Tuberculosis (30-Day Test) Order, 1963 ( S.I. No. 76 of 1963 ) ), the owner or person in charge of the herd of which the animal proposed to be tested forms part shall, before the commencement of the test, surrender to the veterinary surgeon carrying out the test all the identity cards issued by the Minister in respect of animals in that herd.

(3) In this Article "attested animal" means an animal from a herd in an attested area in respect of which an identity card has been issued by the Minister.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 27th day of November, 1963.

PATRICK SMITH,

Minister for Agriculture.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order revokes the Bovine Tuberculosis (General Provisions) (Amendment) Order, 1960 ( S.I. No. 136 of 1960 ), and provides that, as from 9th December, 1963, where an animal reacts to a tuberculin test in an area which is not an attested area the animal must be marked by the veterinary surgeon carrying out the test by means of a diamond-shaped hole of five-eighths of an inch side and a reactor tag and disc in the left ear. The Order also provides that all identity cards issued in respect of animals in a herd in an attested area shall be surrendered to the veterinary surgeon at the commencement by him of a tuberculin test of the herd.