259/02 1 July 2002

The Government intends to extend the Pet Travel Scheme to pets entering the UK from the USA and Canada, subject to satisfactory conclusions from further work to assess the risk of importing rabies, which will be completed in the autumn, Elliot Morley, Minister for Animal Health & Welfare, said today. This announcement follows adoption last week by the Agriculture Council in Luxembourg of a Common Position on a draft Council and European Parliament Regulation on the movement of pet animals, which is closely modelled on the UK Pet Travel Scheme.

Mr Morley said:

"I am pleased that the Council has adopted a Common Position on the draft Regulation on the movement of pet animals. The Government fully supports this move towards the harmonisation within the Community of the rules governing the movement of pet animals, which will allow the UK to continue, until at least 2008, with the Pet Travel Scheme introduced in February 2000. Since then over 50,000 dogs and cats have been able to enter the UK under the Scheme without having the need for six months quarantine.

"We have also been considering again whether or not the Pet Travel Scheme should be extended to the USA and Canada.

"The Government recognises that extending the Scheme could remove a significant barrier for people in the USA and Canada wanting to come to the UK with their pets on holiday, business or even permanently. But before considering extending the Scheme we must be absolutely sure that doing so would not significantly increase the risk of introducing rabies into the UK.

"To help us in our consideration we commissioned a scientific assessment of the risk of importing rabies if the Pet Travel Scheme was extended to the USA and Canada. The Report, which we received earlier this year, was subject to peer review.

"I am pleased to say that the results of this work suggest that the risk of importing rabies will not be significantly increased. We are therefore minded to go ahead and extend the Scheme to the USA and Canada. However, the peer review identified a need to clarify some details with the model used to assess the risk.

"Whilst these are not major points, I am not prepared to take final decisions until I have confidence that the necessary evidence on the risk of importing rabies is clear. I have therefore commissioned further work to produce this. I hope to receive the results of this in the autumn, and provided the conclusions are satisfactory, to be in a position to announce the extension of the Scheme then. In the meantime we will continue to discuss with the Commission about how the USA and Canada will be treated under the Council Regulation".

1. The 1998 Kennedy Report, which laid the framework for the introduction of the Pet Travel Scheme in 2000, recommended that before the Scheme was extended to North America, a risk assessment be carried out.
2. In September 2000, the Commission produced a draft Regulation of the Council and European Parliament on the harmonisation of rules in relation to rabies controls for the non-commercial movement of pet animals within and into the Community.
3. A Common Position on these rules has been agreed by all Member States of the Community. This will be subject to a second reading by the European Parliament. The Regulation will come into force after its publication in the EC Official Journal and take effect twelve months later.
4. Before 2008 the Commission will carry out a science-based review of the arrangements in the and may make proposals for further changes.