Trade in poultry and hatching eggs between Northern Ireland and Great Britain - NORTHERN IRELAND - DARD wishes to announce the introduction of a new General Import Licence for the trade in poultry and hatching eggs from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

The requirement for veterinary certification is no longer required and instead future consignments of poultry and hatching eggs must be accompanied by a commercial document containing:

• Full details of the consignment.
• Description and quantities.
• Name and addresses of importer and exporter.
• Haulier vehicle registration.
• Premises of destination (if different to above).
• The date of issue.
• Reference number (e.g. batch numbers, order numbers, lot numbers etc.); to enable the document to be batched to the consignment.
• Approval/registration number of the premises, which produced the birds or eggs, to be marked by an official stamp.

Importers should note that poultry and hatching eggs must come from premises free from Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza and must not show signs of the disease. In the case of birds imported from outside the EU, they must have completed a quarantine period of at least 42 days, or at least 21 days after hatching in the case of hatching eggs. This must be completed on the holding to which they were first taken after entering the Community.

Full details of the import conditions and copies of the General Import Licence are available on request from Animal Welfare and Trade Branch, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Room 732, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3SB. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Great Britain has also recently put arrangements in hand to remove their requirement for certification to accompany poultry and hatching eggs from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

Source: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development - 10th September 2003