Brucellosis testing changes €3m boost
The percentage of non-dairy herds required to be tested will be reduced from 50% to 20%; the age threshold for the pre-movement test will be increased from 18 to 24 months; and the one-sale brucellosis rule will be abolished.
Mr Coveney said that the changes leave only 20% of herds in the country subject to the annual round test. As a result of the achievement of officially brucellosis free status in 2009, the number of cattle to be tested in 2012 has fallen by about 2.8m, and will fall a further 550,000 in 2013.
