From 13th December 2023 a Statutory Health Attestation will be required to certify exports of POAO (Products of Animal Origin) to the EU. This replaces the current practice of farmer declarations of a ‘regular vet visit’ being used as a source of evidence for the certification.
The Export Health Certificates (EHCs) require that the animal’s farm of origin has undergone regular animal health checks conducted by qualified vets at least once during a 12-month period. The Veterinary Attestation Certificate template which can be downloaded here should be completed and signed by your vet. A copy of this declaration must be kept, and a copy provided for livestock markets or meat processors if requested. The vet will provide a unique Veterinary Attestation Number, known as a ‘VAN’ within the certificate.
What is a VAN?
The VAN (Veterinary Attestation Number) is a unique reference number provided by vets within the Veterinary Attestation certificate to certify that an annual on-farm visit has taken place. A VAN is valid for 12 months and is made up of 20 digits which include the vet’s RCVS number, the CPH number and the expiry date. This information will need to be provided to livestock markets and meat processors for livestock sold for slaughter.
Is a VAN required for all livestock?
A VAN is only required for livestock sold for slaughter from the consigning holding.
What is the process for selling through livestock markets?
- The vendor will provide the auctioneers with their VAN prior to, or on arrival at the livestock market.
- For sheep – this will be included on the official sheep movement form which will be circulated. In the meantime, the VAN should be included in the FCI declaration of the current official sheep movement form.
- For cattle – this should be provided to the market on the market entry form.
- For pigs – the digital eAML2 form has been updated to accommodate the VAN.
- The auctioneers will upload the vendor’s VAN into their market system and any livestock that are not accompanied by a VAN or evidence of membership of a qualifying assurance scheme will be announced at point of sale.
- Following sale, the relevant VAN/ assurance scheme membership number for each lot will be provided to the purchaser on their sales invoice. This can be given to the abattoir vet as required.
Does membership of an assurance scheme automatically qualify?
Farms that are part of a qualifying assurance scheme do not need to complete the veterinary declaration as membership is accepted as evidence that the premises of origin meet the requirement for regular health visits from a vet. The qualifying assurance schemes are:
- Red Tractor
- Farm Assured Welsh Livestock Beef and Lamb Scheme (FAWL) (Welsh Lamb and Beef Producers Ltd (WLBP))
- Quality Meat Scotland (QMS)
Does membership of any other scheme automatically qualify?
Membership of the Animal Health & Welfare Pathway (AHWP) (England only) will qualify as members of the AHWP and will be provided with a VAN by their vet.
Does a VAN cover more than one holding?
The VAN issued by the vet on the Veterinary Attestation certificate will include the producer’s main holding number and will cover all holdings that the producer has business connections to.
If livestock are consigned to the market off a temporary holding, or other, the main farm holding number should be used within the VAN provided to the market.
Is there a minimum residency period for the last holding?
The requirement for a VAN is applicable only to the last holding of residence, regardless of the length of time livestock have spent on the last holding.
What happens if a vendor does not have a VAN or assurance scheme membership after 13th December 2023?
Any farmers unable to provide a Veterinary Attestation or their membership number of a qualifying assurance scheme will be identified as such and announced at point of sale.
Without evidence that a farm receives regular veterinary visits, the Official Veterinarian at the slaughterhouse may not be able to sign a Support Health Attestation (SHA) facilitating products derived from your animals to be exported to the EU.
Will there be a digital solution?
Defra and EID Cymru are working on creating a digital solution within the Livestock Information Service for all species.
