December 1, 2023

Ireland's agriculture department seeks bids for swine movement contract

The Republic of Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) has opened tenders for an EUR 90,000 (US$98,000) contract to establish a swine movement notification service in the country, Agriland reported.

The department aims to have the new service fully operational by March 1, 2024.

According to DAFM, Ireland houses approximately 1.6 million swine across 1,541 registered holdings, with about 270 considered commercial units by the department. swine keepers are legally obligated to notify the department, through an outsourced service provider, of all swine movements onto and off their holdings.

The current system involves a dual notification process where the keeper of the herd initiating the move must notify their intention, and the receiving keeper must confirm receipt of the consignment. The movement is recorded only when notifications are received from both involved parties. However, movements to DAFM-approved slaughter plants are exempt from this process, with data directly recorded at the slaughter plant.

DAFM highlighted that this exclusion does not affect the tender process. Annually, around 10,500 reconciled swine movements occur between premises, excluding DAFM-approved slaughter plants. These notifications involve movements from farm-to-farm, farm to local authority abattoirs, farm to export, and from farms to shows. The sought-after service is expected to handle, process, verify, and record these various swine movements.

-      Agriland