Historical statutory sampling from fish farms for certain pathogens: EIR release

FOI reference: FOI/19/00678
Date received: 7/3/2019
Date responded: 23/4/2019

 

Information requested

You asked for information on historical statutory sampling from fish farms to test for pathogens which are the causative agents of listed diseases, a reference to a line in a previous response (FoI/19/00420) to you. You also asked for information on the "disease free status which was subsequently approved through the European Commission” (your quotation marks), another reference to a line in our response to FoI/19/00420.

 

Upon being asked for clarification, you stated that: ‘In terms of specific information requested the FOI asks for "the results of such testing" which refers to "the causative agents of listed diseases" in the previous sentence. So the FOI is asking for the results of the testing.’ With respect to the term ‘the previous sentence’ I have interpreted this to refer to sampling undertaken to demonstrate disease freedom with respect to the current listed pathogens within Annex IV Part II of Council Directive 2006/88/EC, as specified through FoI/19/00420. In addition to the reference to sampling detailed above, you requested a copy of the application made for disease free status and the approval of the same.

 

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

 

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

 

In situations where sampling was undertaken to achieve disease free status with respect to listed diseases as specified within Annex IV Part II of Council Directive 2006/88, as stated in our response to FoI/19/00420, these results were negative. As a consequence disease free status was obtained. If you require further information on the results of testing then please specify exactly what information you need.

I have provided some further information to you, including locations and test results as part of Appendix VI - Epidemiological survey for IHN and VHS in Great Britain, from the ‘Application for approved zones and other measures to prevent the introduction and spread of fish and shellfish diseases in Great Britain under Council Directive 91/67/EEC’ (‘the application’).

 

As further background to the aquatic animal health situation in Scotland and the wider Great Britain (GB) health zone please note that for those diseases listed within 2006/88/EC (as amended), to which farmed salmon are listed as susceptible, the current disease status and how this was achieved is detailed within Annex 1 of this letter.

 

I also attach extracts from the application which relate to VHS and IHN. This comprises all of the information within the application relating to ‘disease free status’ and includes, as follows:

 

The evidence which supports the application made for disease freedom in relation to VHS and IHN within Great Britain is presented through Commission Decision 92/538/EEC. This was amended through 94/817/EEC following an outbreak of VHS in Gigha in 1994, then further amended through 2000/188/EEC, which reinstated Gigha into the approved disease free GB zone following successful control and eradication of VHS. Information regarding VHS in Gigha is published online: https://www2.gov.scot/Uploads/Documents/sarr3.pdf

 

Please bear in mind that the extracted information provided to you comes from documents dating back to 1992. What has been provided in response to this request, relates directly to the establishment of disease free areas with respect to the present diseases listed within 2006/88/EC, the current legislation in force.

 

Council Directive 91/67/EEC no longer applies as this was superseded by Council Directive 2006/88EC. In this regard you may find it useful to consider Commission Decision 2009/177/EC, as amended, with respect to the current health status of member states, zones and compartments in relation to 2006/88/EC.

 

Copies of legislation can be found online. In particular the EUR-Lex website is helpful for accessing European Union law, including historical, amended and current directives and decisions relating to aquaculture and aquatic animal health.

 

Annex 1
Diseases listed within 2006/88/EC (as amended), to which farmed salmon are listed as susceptible, and the current disease status of the GB health zone and how this was achieved

Disease	Causative Agent	Health Status
Epizootic haematopoietic necrosis (EHN)	EHN virus	GB health zone has disease freedom based upon historical freedom. The virus is exotic to the EU.
Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS)	VHS virus	GB health zone has disease freedom based upon historical testing and application made under 91/67/EEC
Infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN)	IHN virus	GB health zone has disease freedom based upon historical testing and application made under 91/67/EEC
Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA): infection with genotype HPR- deleted of the genus Isavirus (ISAV)	ISA virus - HPR -deleted	GB health zone has disease freedom based upon historical freedom and successful eradication of outbreaks in 1998 and 2009.

 

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses

 

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