Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 375: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the action she intends to take arising from recent reports of the illegal importation of caged birds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16143/06]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 376: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she has plans to order the recovery and quarantine of a consignment of birds illegally imported into the country, as reported recently; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16144/06]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 377: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the arrangements which are in place for the quarantine of caged or exotic birds where there is concern for their health status; the locations of the quarantine facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16145/06]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 378: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the procedures which are in place to authenticate the paperwork, relevant documentation and health certification of exotic or caged birds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16146/06]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 379: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if her Department was informed of the possibility of the attempted illegal importation of a consignment of caged birds within the past few weeks; the action her Department has taken in relation to this information; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16147/06]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 380: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if her Department's attention has been drawn to the fact that a number of caged birds were dead on arrival here, during the illegal importation of a consignment of birds; the efforts which were made to establish the location of these birds; if any or all of these dead birds were retrieved; if so, the tests which were carried out; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16148/06]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 381: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if caged birds recently reported to have been illegally imported into the country have been tested for avian flu or other contagious diseases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16149/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 375 to 381, inclusive, together.

On Friday 14th April 2006, a consignment of hobby birds was imported through Rosslare Port to a registered importer. The consignment in question originated in another Member State (the Netherlands) and, accordingly, is subject to intra-community trade rules, which does not include a quarantine requirement.

Consignments of this nature must comply with the requirements of a General Authorisation issued under the European Communities (Diseases of Animals Acts, 1966 and 1979 Orders) (General Authorisations for Imports) Regulations 1985, the conditions attaching to which require that the hobby birds must: come from a holding which has been registered for export by the competent authority of the country of origin in accordance with Article 4 of Council Directive 92/65/EEC; come from a holding in which Avian Influenza has not been diagnosed in the 30 days preceding the dispatch; come from a holding and an area not subject to restrictions under Council Directive 92/66/EEC introducing Community measures for the control of Newcastle Disease; be accompanied by a declaration to this effect completed and signed by the owner of the hobby birds on the day of movement; in the case of psittacidae, be accompanied by a certificate signed by an official veterinarian of the country of export.

In addition to these requirements, all but one of which were met, advance notice is required to be given to my Department not less than 24 hours prior to the intended date of importation and for animal disease control measures, an official notification of the consignment (TRACES) is dispatched from the District Veterinary Office of the country of origin to the District Veterinary Office of the country of destination.

In this particular case, the consignment was not accompanied by the owner declaration and my Department was not given the advance notice of the importation by the importer, though the TRACES (animal movement) message was despatched by the competent authority of the exporting country on 13th April. It is the case that the absence of the owner's declaration and the failure to provide advance notice of the importation represented a breach of the requirements, a fact since acknowledged by the importer who has undertaken to provide such notice in respect of all future importations.

Limited anonymous information about the importation was received by my Department on Thursday 13th April and this information was passed to my Department's Office at Rosslare. Similar anonymous information was received by the Customs & Excise Service and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. In all three cases, the information provided was insufficient to identify the consignment on importation and, contrary to subsequent newspaper reports, my Department's officials did not have 'detailed knowledge' of the importation.

Veterinary officials of my Department met the importer at his premises, on 24 April 2006. All of the documentation provided by the importer associated with this particular consignment was in order. The official documentation, including the Health Certificate (signed by an official veterinarian in the Member State of origin) and the details provided in the official TRACES notification issued by the competent authority in the exporting Member State, received separately by my Department, were consistent with the birds present on the importer's premises which were all in good health with no animal welfare or animal disease issues arising.

There is no evidence to support suggestions that some birds in the consignment had died in transit or that any bird carcases were subsequently illegally disposed of. The importer has been the subject of previous inspections by my Department, as are other registered importers, and on all previous occasions his importations have been found to be legal and all importation requirements to have been complied with.

It must be noted that the Department of Agriculture is precluded by EU rules from inspecting all import consignments; rather a spot-check regime is in place based on risk assessment for disease purposes. The official quarantine of birds is only relevant for those birds originating in Third Countries and there is currently an EU ban in place on such imports. The Department does, though, have access to an approved quarantine facility in Co. Mayo, should one be required.

As these hobby birds were bred in captivity in an EU Member State and were certified as originating from registered export premises in that country and being free from Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza, the question of testing for contagious diseases does not arise.

In the context of avian influenza, my Department has introduced a robust range of precautionary measures and fully implements all EU controls, including those relating to the importation of exotic birds. It should be noted that imports of pet birds from within the EU represent a low risk to Ireland's health status; the avian 'flu virus being more prevalent in wild birds whose entry cannot be controlled or certified.

On the basis of the enquiries made by officials of my Department, I do not intend to take any further action in relation to the importation of this particular consignment. Specifically, the issues of recovering and quarantining the birds in question do not arise and, given the involvement of competent authorities in authenticating accompanying documentation, including health certificates and TRACES messages, and the checks in place, I am satisfied that appropriate procedures are in place to substantiate the authenticity of any relevant documentation.