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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to impose a moratorium on catching-up activities for gamebirds until her Department publishes the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza risk assessment.

Defra’s approach to avian influenza control is set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales.

On the 9^th January 2023, Defra published the Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 rapid risk assessment Catching-up of wild gamebirds in winter 2022 to 2023 which sets out the risk levels associated with the spread of this year’s strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 and the ‘catching up’ process.

The risk assessment confirms that at present, while avian influenza virus continues to circulate in wild birds across GB at unprecedented levels, the catching up and movement of wild gamebirds could include infected birds.

Following this risk assessment and recognising the conclusions of the assessment, the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) was amended to introduce additional controls on the movement of caught up gamebirds. New rules mean that recently caught up birds cannot be moved for 21 days. This will help reduce the risk of the disease spreading and maintain our strict biosecurity standards.

Detailed requirements can be found in the AIPZ declaration including housing measures in England. Equivalent changes have also been made in the AIPZ in Wales and the AIPZ in Scotland.

We will keep the situation under close review, as well as the effectiveness of any disease control measures taken. Any future decisions on disease control measures for the 2023/2024 season will be based upon the latest scientific, ornithological, and veterinary advice.