Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to prevent increases in bovine TB herd-to-herd infection rates.

The most recent new measures to protect England from bovine TB were introduced on 6 April as part of the Government’s comprehensive strategy, which is on track to deliver TB-free status for over half of the country by 2019. These measures included:

• New legislation to require farmers in the Low Risk Area of England to arrange for post-movement testing of cattle coming from the rest of England and from Wales.

• Tighter movement restrictions, with all herds in the High Risk Area of England affected by a new TB breakdown needing to pass two strict tests before movement restrictions are lifted. This will increase the chances of finding all infected animals in those herds, helping to reduce recurrent breakdowns and to protect other herds.

• Government-funded pre-sale testing, enabling sellers to provide additional assurance for buyers and mitigate the low risk of undetected TB spreading to new herds.

• The opportunity for herd owners to arrange private Interferon Gamma blood tests to diagnose TB, subject to certain conditions.