The Tuberculosis (Scotland) Order 2023: business and regulatory impact assessment

Benefits

Option 1: Do Nothing (Status Quo)

The current system generally works well, and livestock keepers are familiar with the existing requirements for TB testing and control.

However, doing nothing would not be in the best interest of the cattle industry as a whole and it is not considered that there would be any real financial or disease control benefits for either Government or industry by taking no action.

There is also the risk that this leaves gaps in policy around the matter of isolation, as there have been recent cases where farmers have been non-compliant with isolation requirements for infected cattle but there has been no legislative basis to tackle this non-compliance. Despite this, the vast majority of farmers comply with the legislation and work cooperatively with the Scottish Government to protect Scotland’s low levels of TB infection.

Option 2: Introduce changes to TB controls - amend the Tuberculosis (Scotland) Order 2007

Under this option there will be the opportunity to strengthen existing TB controls that will help to maintain current low levels of TB in cattle and safeguard Scotland’s valuable OTF status.

Other benefits include:

• Tighter controls on testing of bovine animals moving from a HIA in order to maintain current low levels of TB and to safeguard OTF status
• TB policy will be more consistent with the rest of GB
• Alignment with new EU Animal Health Law requirements to facilitate continued trade with EU member states
• Alignment with WOAH recommendations for importation of bovids, in order to remain in line with the international standard

The vast majority of farmers abide by the rules and continue to work with Government to maintain the current low levels of TB in Scotland. For the vast majority the impact of the proposed changes will be minimal.