40,000 bird threshold to be put in place

There are no plans to reduce the pig thresholds of 750 sows or 2,000 production pigs.

If the poultry proposals become law, the thresholds will be 40,000 places for broilers OR 30,000 places for laying hens OR 24,000 places for ducks OR 11,500 places for turkeys.

Poultry industry representative bodies are angry that Brussels should be considering tinkering with IPPC, particularly as IPPC has only just been introduced for the poultry sector and some farmers will have significantly changed their businesses to get below the 40,000 threshold.

Defra is opposed to the IPPC directive being revised, and the Environment Agency is unlikely to be keen on a measure that appears to undo much of its work on IPPC implementation over the past year.

Formal proposals from Brussels are expected in the new year.