Source: European Parliament
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 2160/2003[1], targets for the reduction of Salmonella in certain poultry populations have been adopted.
The regulation also lays down trade restrictions in case certain serotypes on Salmonella are present in such populations. To achieve these targets and avoid trade restrictions, Member States have established national control programmes which must include hygiene management at farms, and measures to prevent incoming infections, for instance of people or animals entering the farm.
The regulation’s objective is, thus, to set targets while providing flexibility on how these targets should be achieved by establishing national control programmes, adapted to the situation in each Member State.
Hygiene locks can be part of a national control programme and may represent a key element of such programme to prevent incoming infections.
In line with the regulation, it is up to the Member States to decide if hygiene locks apply to mobile poultry coops, taking into account that reduction targets must be complied with.
Affordable technical solutions for installing hygiene locks have been described in the ‘Guide to Good Hygiene Practices in flocks of broilers’ and the ‘Community Guide for Good Hygiene Practices in pullet rearing and egg laying hens’ developed by European stakeholder organisations, endorsed by the Commission and published on its website[2].
- [1] Regulation (EC) No 2160/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on the control of salmonella and other specified food-borne zoonotic agents (OJ L 325, 12.12.2003, p.1).
- [2] https://food.ec.europa.eu/food-safety/biological-safety/food-borne-diseases-zoonoses/control-salmonella_en.