Mr Andrew Scott's BVA Presidential Speech - North of Ireland Dinner
07 November 2001
Minister, ladies and gentlemen good evening. On behalf of the North of Ireland Veterinary Association and the British Veterinary Association, I would like to welcome you to Galgorm Manor and this year's dinner. We are delighted that so many of you were able to come and we are honoured that again Mrs Bríd Rodgers, the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development has been able to accept our invitation as guest of honour.
We are always happy to come to Northern Ireland, where we are not only assured of a warm welcome, but also lively discussion and interested comment. It is hard to believe that it is only a year since we were last here, so much has happened in the intervening period. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease both here and in Great Britain has almost totally changed the landscape of our Industry.
I congratulate you, Minister, on your openness and your communication with the Industry during the outbreaks here in Northern Ireland. You and your officials had a ready ear and constructive approach to ideas and assistance from the veterinary associations, which was much appreciated by the veterinary profession. They felt their talents were being well used and appreciated.
We in Great Britain have been envious of the rapid and effective way foot-and-mouth disease was able to be dealt with in Northern Ireland. Intensive serological surveillance played a major part in Northern Ireland rapidly regaining its foot-and-mouth free status. Here the co-operation between all branches of the Northern Ireland veterinary profession was evident - Veterinary Service and private practitioners in efficient planning and operation and the Veterinary Sciences laboratories in gearing up to examine 10,000 blood samples per day, 7 days a week. The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has underlined the need for Northern Ireland to ensure that laboratory facilities of appropriate containment levels are provided and under their own control, to deal with the ever-present threat of exotic diseases. Since the tragic events of September 11th the threat of bioterrorism has strengthened this argument.
FMD has had an additional depressing effect on an industry already on its knees with BSE. Vets, far from being disinterested observers, are intimately bound to the ups and downs of the agricultural industry. Easing of low spirits would be greatly assisted in Northern Ireland by the granting of low incidence BSE status. Consequently, minister, when you judge the time is right, BVA would like to offer its help.
We believe that in the current environment the Industry needs an efficient and effective production system that maintains and improves animal health. We need to be able to brand our commodities to achieve product differentiation that emphasises the clean green image of our grass-based systems. We need informed customers who have confidence in our food's safety and production methods.
We believe that by building on the relationships established during the foot-and-mouth crisis, the members of the veterinary profession in Northern Ireland can help you achieve those aims. We feel we can forge a synergism between the work that private veterinary surgeons carry out on behalf of their clients and the work that they could carry out on behalf of your Department.
We commend you for your foresight in commissioning the document "Vision for the future of the Agri-food industry", although we would have welcomed representation of the veterinary associations on the working group. We were, however, able to feed into this process through presentations made to both the Food Chain and Animal Health sub-groups. We were pleased to see many of our profession's recommendations incorporated in the final report.
In particular we note the recommendations to enhance resourcing for the pursuit of an all all-Ireland animal and plant health policy, to assess the current state of animal health in Northern Ireland compared to other Member States; the emphasis on disease surveillance; and recommendations on veterinary involvement in Farm Assurance Herd Health Schemes.
Veterinary surgeons have informed opinions on "field to fork" issues as they are closely involved in all stages of the food chain: from on-farm clinical work, the supply and control of veterinary medicines, through meat inspection and control of food residues to disease surveillance, laboratory investigation and research. Also, as you can see from your dinner companions tonight, vets are enthusiastic consumers!
Veterinary professionals have the necessary expertise, not only to play a part, but also to lead in these areas. However, we are limited by the absence of a local veterinary college to provide professional development programmes for veterinary graduates. The Northern Ireland veterinary associations have taken the lead on this and commissioned an expert report on how continuous professional development might be delivered in Northern Ireland. We believe government has a role to play in facilitating a veterinary professional development programme in Northern Ireland, as this would have such positive benefits for the Agri-food industry.
We feel that since the advent of the Single Market, Northern Ireland's health status has suffered dramatically and we are now lagging behind in the eradication of economically significant diseases. Examples are Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis and Bovine Viral Diarrhoea. We agree with the Vision Report that DARD and the industry need to make an objective assessment of the animal health status of Northern Ireland compared with other member states. Based on this assessment, informed decisions can then be taken on animal health policy and, in particular, on any moves to eradicate diseases of current or potential economic or public health significance. Since the introduction of the Single European Market we seem to have become totally reactive in the area of animal health. While we appreciate that in many things we are driven by Brussels, we should not allow that to cloud our judgement in what is good for Northern Ireland.
We in the Industry also have a responsibility in this regard. Free trade is not always a good deal and in the area of animal health especially there is no such thing as a free lunch. Thus we are dismayed with the recent introduction of cattle from other Member States following the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. We are only too well aware that imported cattle introduced Mycoplasma bovis infection to Northern Ireland in the early 90's. This disease is now widespread and yet another economic burden to farmers. We really do need to look at our responsibilities in such matters and not just the short-term bottom line.
Industry codes for importing livestock were published jointly by the NI veterinary profession and the farming unions post 1992. A review of these, sponsored by DARD, would surely contribute to the recommendations in the Vision Report.
We recognise, of course, that in considering disease monitoring, the UK Government has published the Meah Report on animal disease surveillance. We see considerable benefit in a system where private veterinary practices participate with Government and private industry in a partnership that combines disease monitoring, animal welfare and farm quality assurance in a cogent whole. This offers the resource and skills needed and the independence required by the customer.
Currently the N.I. veterinary profession is completing cattle and sheep health plans for their clients to comply with the new Farm Quality Assurance schemes audited by the Northern Ireland Food Chain Certification (NIFCC). The profession intends playing an active role in promoting N.I. farm produce through this scheme. The addition of disease surveillance as an inherent part of Farm Quality Assurance would provide benefits for farmer, consumer and government alike.
An important feature of how foot-and-mouth disease was dealt with in Northern Ireland has been the high level of co-operation between vets in the public sector (the Veterinary Service and the Veterinary Sciences laboratories) and private practitioners in eradicating this disease. The mutual respect between the veterinary profession and DARD is at an all time high and, with the publication of the Vision Report, this would be an opportune moment to capitalise on that good work for the benefit of our agricultural industry.
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