General Movement Licences

The Disease Control (Wales) Order 2003 (external link) was established to control the movement of stock and prevent a repeat of the 2001 Foot-and-Mouth outbreak. The Order states that no person may move an animal from any premises unless the movement is made under the authority of a general licence.

Any movement of animals must be fully compliant with the conditions set out in the relevant licence.

The licences detail the current controls in place, including:

• Cleansing and disinfection of vehicles;
• The 6 day standstill;
• Multiple pick-ups/drop-offs;
• Notification of movements.

Livestock keepers should familiarise themselves with all the conditions of the licence. Failure to comply with the rules laid down in the licences may result in revocation of the general licence and possibly prosecution.

As well as following the rules laid out in the relevant licence, movements of deer, pigs, sheep and goats must be accompanied by an Animal Movement Licence (AML) form. More information is available on the Animal Movements Licence page.

If you want to move cattle which were born or reared in the UK before August 1996 you will need to apply for an individual movement licence. This is an extra precaution against meat from these older cattle entering the food chain. No licences will be granted to move these cattle to markets or through dealers. Contact your local Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency office for further details.

Six day standstill

The standstill prevents animals moving from the holding except for certain exceptions for example animals moving direct to slaughter. When cattle, sheep and goats are moved onto a holding a six day standstill on that premises will be triggered. Pigs moving onto a holding will trigger a 20 day standstill on all pigs on the holding but they will trigger only a 6 day standstill on any cattle, sheep or goats on the holding.

Below are the general movement licences currently in place for cattle, deer, pigs, sheep and goats.