Veterinary Opinion Sought on AHVLA Lab Closures
The Parliamentary Select Committee charged with monitoring the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is calling for veterinary opinions on the controversial matters of testing for Bovine Tuberculosis and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Agency's (AHVLA) closure of eight of its sixteen regional surveillance sites across the UK by March 2013.
AHVLA's announcement in September 2011 ended months of speculation. Sites to be closed include Truro, Langford, Luddington, Preston and Winchester.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRACom) has announced that it will be holding an evidence session on the two issues in the new year. The Welsh Affairs Committee will also be taking evidence on the closure of AHVLA Laboratories in Aberystwyth and Carmarthen.
Commenting on the announcement, EFRACom Agriculture Specialist Rebecca Ross said: “Particularly with the rationalisation of lab services, there is concern that there will be a loss of service in rural areas and a loss of expertise. EFRACom took this up with the Secretary of State in Autumn 2011 and we felt we wanted to hold a full enquiry into the issue.” Calling on practitioners and veterinary bodies to contribute to the enquiry, she added: “It is absolutely critical we get feedback from large animal vets – the strength of the enquiry will be based on the feedback we get.
We’re particularly interested in issues of test turn-around time and the ability to turn them around in the event of a disease outbreak and the value of the diagnostic services.”
Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence by 9th January. More details of the enquiry and requirements for submissions can be found on the EFRACom website.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
