During the course of the foot and mouth disease crisis on the island of Ireland, trade in pigs and other susceptible species between Northern Ireland this jurisdiction was prohibited. Trade in live animals, including pigs, between member states of the European Union, is governed by EU legislation requiring, inter alia, that animals must be accompanied by appropriate health certification and must be properly identified. Prior to the foot and mouth crisis, special arrangements were established by bilateral agreement with the Northern Ireland authorities,
which exempted trade in pigs and sheep on the island from the full rigour of normal intra-community trade requirements. Since the resumption of trade in certain live animals between the North and the Republic, and in the context of an animal health crisis which had the potential to do untold long-term damage to the agricultural economy, and indeed to many other sectors of the economy, it has been agreed that in the future normal intra-community rules should apply to trade in live animals.
For the future, therefore, full intra-community trade rules will apply to cross-Border trade in live animals. Within the parameters of those rules, which operate successfully throughout the European Union, my Department will do everything in its power to facilitate the trade in pigs to Northern Ireland.
The number of pigs exported to Northern Ireland in the past four months was as follows: