Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has said it has been working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to facilitate the process of animal transport authorisation.
DAERA said it is aware that pedigree sales are to be held in Ireland over the coming months and that Northern Ireland buyers may wish to purchase animals at these sales.
The department issued a reminder to potential buyers that animals purchased in Ireland must be certified by authorities on the TRACES system in order to permit travel into Northern Ireland.
Before a transporter can be registered on TRACES – which is the European Commission’s online platform for certification required for the importation of animals and animal products – they must possess the correct transporter authorisation.
Recent changes made to the TRACES system in relation to the requirements for animal movements now mean that those transporting animals in connection with an economic activity (e.g. trade) for distances over 65km need a valid transporter authorisation.
Northern Ireland-issued transporter authorisations are not recognised in the EU/Ireland.
If transporters do not hold a valid EU/Irish transporter authorisation and intend to transport animals from Ireland to Northern Ireland, DAERA said they will need to either use an approved EU/Irish transporter or apply to DAFM to obtain their own transporter authorisation.
Once approved, DAFM will add the new transporter authorisation details onto the TRACES system.
TRACES
As well as adhering to the recent changes to TRACES, DAERA said that those wishing to move/import animals from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland must comply with two additional requirements.
The first of these is to be correctly registered on the TRACES system as an operator and with the correct activity type (e.g. bovine establishment) before they import/move the animals.
The second of those is that transporters need to either be an approved EU/ROI transporter or have engaged the services of an approved EU/ROI transporter who is registered on TRACES as an operator with the correct transporter activity type.
