The Over Thirty Months Scheme (OTMS) ceased operation on Sunday 22 January 2006, and has been succeeded by the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme (OCDS). The RPA issued a news release about this on 18 January 2006.

Overview

The statement made on Wednesday 1st December, 2004 by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, can be found on the Defra website.

On the 15th September 2005 the Government announced that it has accepted advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that Defra's proposed robust BSE testing system for older cattle should replace the Over Thirty Months (OTM) rule. A Defra news release was issued.

The Over Thirty Month Slaughter Scheme (OTMS) was introduced in May 1996 to provide a market for animals which could no longer enter the food chain as a result of the over thirty month rule.

The framework for the scheme was established in a European Commission Regulation (Reg 716/96).

In principle, 70% of the purchase cost is funded from the EU budget.

The cost of slaughtering and destruction of the carcases by rendering and incineration is borne by the Exchequer.

To view a consolidated version of EC Regulation 716/96 click here.

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 has 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.

Operation of the Scheme

The basis upon which RPA acquires bovine animals entered into the OTMS is as a result of a contract with producers to purchase eligible animals, with a collection centre normally acting as the producer's agent.

Animals must be slaughtered in designated slaughterhouses and the resulting material rendered and destroyed to avoid entry into the human and animal feed chains.

There are special arrangements for casualty animals, which may be slaughtered on-farm under arrangements co-ordinated by the Cattle Disposal Helpline, and then go directly for incineration.

Scheme Eligibility Requirements

The requirements are as follows:

• The animal must be over 30 months of age on the date of slaughter at an OTMS abattoir, or on the date killed on farm in respect of animals killed on farm on welfare grounds. This means that an animal cannot be accepted into the scheme until it is two and a half years and one day old.
• The animal must not show any clinical sign of BSE
• The animal must be fit for human consumption
• The animal must have been kept on a holding in the UK for at least 6 months before the date of slaughter.
• The animal must be kept on the holding of the producer claiming the compensation for at least 28 days immediately prior to the date of slaughter.
• The individual claiming compensation must conform to the definition of a producer as set out in the in the RPA(L)9 Producer’s Handbook.
• Compliance with all national legislation on the keeping and movement of bovine animals (see paragraphs 43-46). This includes all welfare requirements; tagging; farm records and Cattle Tracing System registration requirements.
• In the case of animals killed on farm on welfare grounds, the entire carcase must be presented into the scheme. Parts of the carcase, such as the horns, must not be removed.

i. This is a summary of the scheme eligibility requirements. The requirements as detailed in the RPA(L)9 Producer’s Handbook are definitive. Any queries should be raised with RPA’s Slaughter Scheme Helpline on 0118 968 7333.

ii. The current disease control legislation prevents animals from being returned to holdings from abattoirs, and also from a number of markets, in much of the United Kingdom. Producers must therefore ensure that their animals are eligible for the scheme before presenting them into the scheme.

iii. An animal does not enter the OTMS until the point of slaughter at the abattoir, or at the point of weighing in the case of on farm slaughtered casualty animals, and RPA does not take on any responsibility for an animal until it enters the scheme. Animals not identified by an official tag at the point of entry to the scheme will normally not qualify for a scheme compensation payment. On occasion, a single official tag can become detached from an animal during transit from the producer’s holding to a scheme entry point. Whilst the cattle identification legislation only stipulates that bovine animals born from 1 January 1998 must be tagged with an official tag in each ear, producers may wish to consider ensuring that all animals presented onto the OTMS are tagged with an official tag in each ear, regardless of the animal’s age. Animals will then still be eligible for OTMS compensation if one of the tags does happen to become detached.

iv.