The Over Thirty Months Scheme (OTMS) ceased operation on Sunday 22nd January 2006, and was succeeded by the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme (OCDS).

Background

The OTMS was set up as a public confidence measure and to support the UK agricultural market following public concern over the possible link between Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans.
This concern had resulted in:

• Commission Decision 96/239 being issued in March 1996 prohibiting the export of bovine animals, or any part of them, from the UK, and;
• UK legislation banning the introduction of bovine animals of more than 30 months at the time of slaughter into the human and animal feed chains.