Guidelines & Requirements

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS HORSES & OTHER EQUINES

As from 1st May 2012, any premises (which includes shows, fairs and markets) where horses or other equines are gathered must be registered with the Department of Agriculture. Owners/persons in charge of such gatherings are required to submit a completed application form for registration and to keep records of movements on/off their premises. Records must be retained for at least 3 years as they may be required by the Department for the purposes of tracing disease. It is important therefore that Show organisers should contact their local District Veterinary Office in advance so that consideration can be given to compliance with the requirements.
Any further information on the requirements for moving of horses and equines to shows will be provided on the Department's website
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/animalidentificationmovement/

NOTIFICATION CATTLE MOVEMENT
Important Information for Organisers of Show's & Exhibitors of Cattle.
Keepers wishing to show cattle in 201 must obtain a Certificate of Compliance prior to the movement of the animal to the Show. This ensures that the animal(s) in question has the necessary TB, BR and BVD tests recorded on the Department’s database and that the keeper presenting the animal is not restricted by the Department.
Certificates of Compliance can be obtained online from the Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system through the www.agfood.ie facility or from the Cattle Movement Notification Agency. When applying for a Certificate of Compliance, keepers should not specify a destination herd. On the day of the Show, the Certificate of Compliance should be presented to the Show Secretary along with the bovine passport for the animal. The keeper and the Show Secretary will then sign the Movement Notification section of the Certificate which will then be sent to the local DVO for recording onto the AIM system.
Please note that only cattle for which a valid Certificate of Compliance is provided to the Show Secretary can be shown on the day of the Show

RECOMMENDATION FOR CATTLE CLASSES

After a number of submissions from affiliated shows on the judging of calves and the need to have them judged by weight rather than by age at Shows. The Irish Show Association Cattle Sub Committee have put forward the following recommendation on use of live weight for calf classes eg Calves under 12 months not to exceed 460kg; Autumn born claves and calves under 6 months should not exceed 320kg.
Another suggestion is to use no more than 1.7kg live weight gain per day from the birth date to the show date. This proposal would also be suitable for interbreed pedigree calf championships.

SPECIFIC REQUIRMENTS SHEEP

Identification:
All sheep must be individually identified with plastic eartags issued on accordance with the requirements of the National Sheep Identification System (NSIS).
Movement Documentation
All consignments of sheep being moved must be accompanied by the completed dispatch document. Individual details of each sheep in the consignment must be recorded.  Sheep from non-restricted flocks only can be moved to shows.  In the case of flocks restricted following diagnosis of scrapie, sheep possessing the ARR/ARR genotype only may be exhibited.  The movemnet of these ARR/ARR genotype sheep must be accompanied with the relevant movement permit (SCR/10), which can be obtained from the Local District Veterinary Office in the county where the flock is located.

AIM NOTIFICATION

The movment of sheep to and from an Agricultural Show within the State must be recoreded on AIM.  This is done using a copy of the owners dispatch document as follows:
The Owner/Keeper presents the signed and completed dispatch document to the show secretary who checks it to ensure that it is completed in full.
The Show Secretary fills in the MART section of the dispatch document with (i) the show number; (ii) the date of the move back to the source holding; (iii) stamps is with the show stamp; (iv) signs the dispatch document.
The Show Secretary then forwards the completed pink section of the dispatch document to the local DVO within 7 days of the show movement.
The Show Secretary keeps the white copy for his/her records.
The source/destination keeper keeps the bottom yellow copy to enter it into their flock registry.
Ultimate responsibility for fulfilling this requirement lies with the Show Secretary.

FLOCK REGISTER
All movements of sheep to and from shows must be recorded in your flock register.
Exports (to Member States of the European Union including Northern Ireland
All sheep must be accompanied by TRACES intra community trade certificate for ovine animals. A TRACES message, corresponding with the TRACES certificate, will be sent for each animal or consignment being dispatched to the show (this will be performed by Department officals of the DVO). Exhibitors are advised to contact their Local District Veterinary Office  & the show society in Northern Ireland well in advance of any show where sales may take place to determine the suitability of the show for exports (e.g. premises and sheep status), availability of veterinary staff for export certification and to have the necessary arrangements out in place.
Attendance of sheep from scrapie monitored flocks at shows and sales in 2013
Shows between 1st May and 30th September
Sheep from scrapie monitored flocks will be permitted to attned agricultural shows taking place between May 1st and September 30th without restriction or separation from other categories of sheep.
Shows outside that period
For shows taking place before May 1st or after September 30th, sheep from scrapie monitored or probationary flocks must be separated from other sheep as follows:
There must be complete separation of monitored/probationary sheep from other categories of sheep at the show. Ideally, this would mean a seperate entrance and exit for each group, seperate loading and unloading areas, seperate penning areas for each of the two groups.
In locations where all of the above may not be possible, the minimum requirement would be the seperate loading and unloading and also of penning areas. The two areas should be seperated by a sheep-free alleyway, at least 12 feet wide. If only one showring is available, the sheep from the scrapie-monitored flocks must be shown first.