Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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305. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason there is a rule in place that lambs purchased in a mart may not be exported live for 30 days after such purchase, when calves can be exported live immediately after a mart purchase; if the introduction of electronic identification tags for lambs for live export would resolve this issue, and remove the cause of this delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29687/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under EU legislation, breeding and fattening sheep must be certified as having been continuously resident on a holding of origin for at least 30 days prior to export, including a "standstill" period of 21 days prior to export during which time no sheep have been introduced on to the holding.  A derogation applies where sheep introduced during the standstill period are completely isolated from all other animals on the holding.  To avail of this derogation, isolation must be notified to and pre-approved by my Department. Sheep being exported for slaughter must be resident on the holding of origin for 21 days but a standstill period is not required if the animals are consigned directly to a slaughterhouse in another Member State. A 21 days standstill period is required in the event that sheep for slaughter are exported from an approved assembly centre or dealer's premises and/or stop at a staging point in another Member State (transit or destination).

In relation to intra-Community trade in calves, Member States are obliged under Council Directive 64/432 on intra-community trade to certify, among other things, that bovines being exported for breeding or production have been on a single holding during the 30 day period prior to export or, if such animals are younger than 30 days, that they have been on the holding of their origin since birth.

The somewhat more stringent rules on intra-Community trade in sheep compared with cattle, in particular, the "standstill" requirement, stem from the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001 when the general view was that movements of sheep largely contributed to the spread of the disease. With regard to identification of sheep, all ovine animals intended for intra-Community trade or export to third countries are required to be electronically identified in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 21/2004, establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals, to ensure complete traceability of each animal.  The introduction of EID tags for lambs would not remove the obligations under the EU legislation relating to residency on a holding or the 21 day "standstill" period. The rationale for these requirements is to ensure that sheep going for export do not come in contact with other animals or become infected following such contact.