The Agricultural Health and Food Control Programme

1. The Agricultural Health and Food Control Programme

2. Agricultural Health Food safety and Quality in the poultry sector

3. Topics discussed • Hatching eggs and Hatcheries; • EU requirements for Hatcheries; • On-farm Practices; • Zoonoses; • Sampling on-farm; • Ante-mortem or pre-slaughter health inspection;

4. Topics discussed • Testing of poultry carcasses and poultry meat; • Residue and contaminant sampling; • Implications for Barbados

5. Hatching Eggs and Hatcheries: • OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (2011) • The hatching eggs originate from a breeder flock that participates in a Salmonella surveillance programme in accordance with the recommendations in Article 6.5.4., i.e. tested at least at monthly intervals during the laying period with additional testing as determined by the (local) Veterinary Services.

6. The hatching eggs originated from a breeder flock in which no evidence of Salmonella Enteritidis and SalmonellaTyphimurium has been detected and have had no contact with poultry or other material from other establishments that do not comply with the recommendations in Chapter 6.5 of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code.

7. Hatching eggs and Hatcheries con’t • The hatching eggs originated from a breeder flock that complies with the recommendations of Chapter 6.4, i.e. the recommended biosecurity procedures in poultry production.

8. Hatching Eggs and Hatcheries con’t Article 6.5.4 of the OIE Code states that testing at hatcheries should complement on-farm testing, the minimum frequency should be determined by the Veterinary Services

9. EU requirements for hatcheries A programme of microbiological quality control must be used to assess the health status of hatcheries. (Council Directive 90/539/EEC, Annex II, Chapter II) Swabs taken from the walls of the hatchery or down or dust taken from the hatcher must be tested for Salmonella pullorum and Salmonella gallinarum. (Council Directive 2009/158/EC, Chapter 3)

10. EU requirement for hatcheries con’t Day-old chicks should be tested for Mycoplasma gallisepticum if sacculitis lesions are present. (Council Directive 90/539/EEC, Annex II, Chapter III);

11. On Farm Practices Poultry houses and farm must have documented Good Hygiene Practice programmes; Poultry houses and farms must comply with requirements with respect to: drinkers, feeders, litter, noise, light, inspection, cleaning, record keeping;

12. On-Farm Practices Engaged in of-farm sanitation and bio-security programmes and bird husbandry including, for example, rodent control programmes, cleaning and disinfecting f arm before new stock.

13. Zoonoses • Two important zoonotic bacteria: • Salmonella Sources of salmonella include feed, water, breeding flock, other livestock, environment, rodent, wild birds. • Campylobacter Sources include water but transmission from breeder flock are not known

14. Sampling on Farm A monitoring framework for zoonoses or zoonotic agents, as set out in (EC) No 2160/2003 in accordance with Article 4 Directive 2003/99/EC is necessary for EU member states and third countries exporting poultry products to the EU.

15. Sampling On-farm con’t • Campylobacteriosis and agents thereof • Salmonellosis and agents thereof

16. Samplingcon’t Based on the Annexes found in EC regulations (EC) No 646/2007 and (EC) No 200/2012, sampling of poultry holdings shall cover all flocks of broilers in respect to (EC) No 2160/2003 and the sampling shall be flock shall be sampled on the initiative of the food business operators and the competent authority.

17. Sampling con’t Sampling of broiler flocks initiated by the food business shall take place three weeks prior to slaughter ; Sampling of broiler flocks initiated by the competent authority shall include each year one flock/year of 10% of the holdings with more than 5000 birds;

18. Sampling con’t • The sampling protocol instructs that at least two pairs of boot/sock swabs shall be used, and that samples shall be taken by walking around in the poultry house. Each pair covering 50% of the house • The competent authority may decide to increase the minimum number of samples in order to ensure representative sampling

19. Sampling con’t • On approval of the competent authority one pair of boot/sock swabs may be replaced with dust samples of 100g, collected from multiple places throughout the poultry house from surfaces with visible presence of dust;

20. Ante-mortem or pre-slaughter health inspection Production report sent to official veterinarian 72 hours prior to intended slaughter; Inspection conducted on-farm to assess all aspects of health and welfare of birds, their environment, suitability for slaughter, record keeping and farm hygiene and biosecurity

21. Testing of Poultry Carcasses and Poultry Meat • Based on EU regulations (EC) No 2073/2005 and (EC) No 1086/2011 microbiological testing on poultry is done to satisfy two criteria: • Process Hygiene Criteria – Salmonella spp. in poultry carcasses at the slaughterhouses

22. Testing of Poultry Carcasses and Poultry Meat • Food Safety Criteria– Salmonellatyphimurium and Salmonella enteritidis in poultry meat other than poultry carcasses • The sampling protocol instructs that whole carcasses shall be sampled with neck skin after chilling at the slaughter house.

23. Testing of Poultry Carcasses and Poultry Meat • Food business operators of slaughterhouses or establishments producing poultry meat shall take samples for microbiological analysis at least once a week. • The day of sampling shall be changed each week to ensure that each day of the week is covered.

24. Testing of Poultry Carcasses and Poultry Meat Sampling can be reduced to fortnightly if satisfactory results have been obtained for 30 consecutive weeks. The salmonella sampling frequency may also be reduced if there is a national or regional salmonella control programme in place.

25. Residue and contaminant sampling Article 4 of Council Directive 96/23/EC an active centrally coordinated residue monitoring plan must be in place; EU provides a list of substances that must be monitored; Sampling plan, and results of the previous year’s sampling plan must be submitted;

26. Residue and contaminant sampling According to Article 7 (1) of Council Directive 96/23/EC a description of the legislation governing the authorisation, distribution and use of veterinary drugs shall be in place in exporting countries.

27. Implications for Barbados Adequate legislation outlining responsibilities of the competent authorities and farmers and processors; Surveillance and monitoring programmes for hatcheries, farms and slaughter houses; Laboratory testing programmes by accredited labs;

28. Thank you