Saturday (1st October) marked the writing of electronic pig movement recording into legislation. There will be a transitional period of six months for the phasing out of the paper-based forms and adjustment to online eAML2 forms.

Following a recent consultation, Defra said it intends to amend the existing Pigs, Records, Identification and Movements Order (PRIMO) 2007 to reflect the requirement of pre-notification of movements.  

Dorothea Schiemann of BPEX commented last week on the regulatory change, “From 1st October, there will be a transitional period of six months for the phasing out of the paper-based AML2 forms. Between October and next April the existing paper AML2 forms and the eAML2 online forms will both be in operation. This will give producers the opportunity to adjust to the change in process. 

“From April 2012 the AML2 paper forms will cease to be a valid method of reporting movements. Pig movements will either have to be reported using the free eAML2 online service or the free eAML2 bureau service and there will also be third party agents such as marketing groups or the British Pig Association.” 

Pig industry body BPEX revealed a mailing has been sent to all pig keepers in England and Wales with detailed information on how to use eAML2 and what changes are happening and when. All pig movements can now be recorded using eAML2 except for movements to and from shows, which will be introduced from the beginning of next year. 

Benefits of the new system include increased accuracy of industry’s herd register, which will provide more timely information. BPEX said this would enable better communication and control in the event of disease outbreak. The new system avoids repetitious filling of information as the eAML2 service will pre-populate keepers’ basic information automatically. Also, when pigs are sent to slaughter, the system combines the movement licence and FCI form in one, which will save producers more time.