Animal health, welfare and feed hygiene

The trading standards team have responsibility for enforcing a range of animal health and welfare legislation including:

• Livestock welfare
• Animal identification and records
• Livestock transportation
• Animal by-products
• Bio-security
• Feed hygiene
• Food hygiene at primary production
• Illegally imported animals

Welfare

Livestock keepers have a legal duty to the welfare of their animals. If you keep livestock, you should be aware of legislation concerning livestock identification, transportation, record keeping, feeding, fallen stock and welfare.

We give advice and check the welfare of livestock and the conditions in which they are being kept during inspections. We would usually only inspect farmed livestock, ie cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and poultry but we also inspect horses.

Where a breach of the legislation is identified we would usually issue a statutory notice, which details the steps the owner must do to improve the welfare of an animal.

Animal welfare legislation

• Animal Welfare Act 2006
• Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007

If you find a welfare issue on a farm, report it to us immediately on 03454 040 506.

Animal feed and food hygiene

If you manufacture, mix, use, market, store or transport animal feed, or are involved in the primary production of food, you need to be aware of food and feed hygiene regulations:

• The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006
• EC Food Hygiene Regulation 852/2004
• EC Feed Hygiene Regulation (183/2005)

Who is covered?

The regulations apply to food businesses (food business operators), and feed businesses (feed business operator) defined as:

• Food business - any undertaking, whether for profit or not and whether public or private, carrying out any stage of production, processing and distribution of food
• Food business operator - means the natural or legal persons responsible for ensuring that the requirements for food law are met within the food business under their control
• Feed business operator - means the natural or legal person
• Responsible for ensuring that the requirements of the present
• Regulation are met within the feed business under their control

This covers any livestock farms, fish farms, arable farms, fruit farms, salad producers, 'pick your own' farms, market gardeners or bee keepers producing food for human consumption.

Registration

Primary producers of food are required to be registered with the local authority as feed business operators.

Complete the registration application form

Inspections

Trading standards officers inspect primary producers to check for compliance with hygiene provisions. The inspection helps to ensure harmful substances do not enter the human food chain.

We may also take samples to check the hygiene of anything being grown or reared for human consumption. If hygiene standards are not met, an improvement notice may be issued to make sure hygiene is improved and any risk to the public removed.

This page was last updated on 26 May 2023