Agricultural, forestry, horticultural, aquacultural and apicultural services

Description

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and delivers the Animal Health and Welfare policies of Defra, Scottish Government and Welsh Government across Great Britain (GB). Its principal function is the safeguarding of animal health and welfare and public health, which in turn support economic growth and trade. From time to time, the APHA and other GB government (central, devolved and local authorities) may have a need to employ a range of contractors to deliver certain types of work on its behalf. The Authority has appointed 65 Providers onto a GB-wide, multi-supplier Framework for the delivery of any work as described in the 21 lots described in this notice. APHA will be the operational agents for the delivery of the Goods and Services under the Framework on behalf of the Authority. The Framework is open to other Contracting Bodies as detailed within this notice. The services under this lot will require Providers to value agricultural plant and equipment and other property, animal feed/fodder, crops and both pedigree and non-pedigree animals including those from the following species: — Bovines (where Valuation Rate Cards do not apply); — Ovines; — Porcines; — Caprines; — Avians (for species or breeds where Valuation Rate Cards do not apply); — Cervines; — Camelids; — Equines; — Canines; — Felines; — Ratites. It is possible that Providers may also be required to value other species not listed above. There may be some situations where the Owner has a legal right to appeal the original valuation ( Lot 1). In the event of a valuation being disputed by the Owner in either support of Daily Routine Work or in an Outbreak or Incident, the Authority may require the provision of Expert Valuation services delivered by an Expert Valuer(s) with experience in valuing the class of animal/bird/other whose value is being disputed. The Monitor Valuation Service will involve an audit of the range of valuations being submitted (this would be most likely to occur in a large Outbreak) and aims to ensure that Valuers and Expert Valuers are completing the valuation assessments correctly and consistently. Monitor Valuation services must be provided by a Monitor Valuer with appropriate skills and experience (typically, a Monitor Valuer will have much greater depth of experience than an Expert Valuer or Valuer). This lot has been included to allow Contracting Bodies to access a range of flexible solutions for analysing market and sales data in order to generate rate cards/table valuations. It should be noted that at this time, it is expected that this service would be required to cover a range of poultry species/production systems. The intention of this lot is to seek Providers that can assist Contracting Body's in catching poultry in a welfare friendly manner prior to any other process being undertaken. CGU services may be provided by the Contracting Body or 3rd Party providers as detailed in Lot 10. Other processes may include the taking of blood samples, clinical inspection or possibly culling the birds. The intention of this lot is to allow Contacting Bodies to access the services of professional herders and drovers to assist in a range of operations. The majority of this work will fall into Outbreak/Incident response, though there may be a small element of Daily Routine Work assigned, for example, if a Keeper does not present their animals for inspection in the proscribed manner, legislation provides for government to have this work completed and then to recover any costs for this service from the keeper. In an Outbreak or Incident, animal handlers or drovers or specialised equipment may be required to assist in the catching/collection of animals prior to further processes being applied — which may include clinical examination, further testing or culling. The handling methods will depend on the size and species of livestock, but shall meet with relevant administration's Code of Recommendations for the species. These can be found located on the relevant administrations website: For red meat species, the preferred method of culling involves the use of a Captive Bolt Gun (CBG), which is followed immediately by pithing (the manual destruction of the brain and brain stem). Other culling methods may be used at the Contracting Body's discretion. Operations may only begin when the Contracting Body grants permission. APHA/Contracting Body reserves the right to oversee these operations to ensure compliance with relevant welfare legislation. In an Outbreak or Incident, Slaughtermen will be licensed to move on and off Affected Premises (APs), by issue of a notice from the Contracting Body. The notice will prescribe what must and must not happen on the AP and requires the Slaughtermen to follow strict bio-security guide lines, including wearing required PPE/RPE. Failure to observe the measures required in the notice is an offence under the Animal Health Act 1981, section 73. Slaughtermen may be required to go through an induction process to work on each AP. In some instances, where animals are fractious or difficult to handle (for example feral cattle), free bullet (rifle) Marksmen may be required to cull them from a distance using a rifle and ammunition suitable for the species being culled. Use of other free bullet weapons may also be required, such as carbines and shotguns. The type of weapon required will be further defined in the call off process. All Marksmen must hold relevant FAC/licences and permits to use their weapon and carry its associated ammunition. All free-bullet Marksmen must also hold a British Association for Shooting and Conservation Deer Stalking Certificate Level 1 (BASC DSC1) or international equivalent. In some instances, Marksmen may be required to have their FAC varied to allow them to cull other animal types, if required. In some instances, Dart Gun Operators (DGOs) may be required to use tranquiliser guns/darts to sedate animals, generally before they are culled. Operations may only begin when the Contracting Body grants permission. APHA/Contracting Body reserves the right to oversee these operations to ensure compliance with relevant welfare legislation. In an Outbreak, DGOs will be licensed to move on and off Affected Premises (AP's), by issue of a notice from the Contracting Body. The notice will prescribe what must and must not happen on the AP and requires the Operatives to follow strict bio-security guide lines, including wearing required PPE. Failure to observe the measures required in the notice is an offence under the Animal Health Act 1981, section 73. DGOs may be required to go through an induction process to work on each AP. Containerised Gassing Units (CGUs) may be required to deal with depopulation activities on a poultry farm. Trained and appropriately WATOK certified operatives should be provided as part of this service, as should the CGU, the requisite gas mix, any PPE/RPE (likely to be FFP3 standard as a minimum) required and any manual handling equipment (e.g. a Tele handler) to move kit about the farm. Note that the term ‘CGU Operators’ includes all employees of the provider engaged with delivering the services on the Affected Premises. Operations may only begin when APHA/Contracting Body grants permission. APHA/Contracting Body reserves the right to oversee these operations to ensure compliance with relevant welfare legislation. This lot has been designed to address Daily Routine Work requirements for the APHA and other interested Contracting Bodies. There will be a requirement for a range of (generally) farmed animals to be gathered and removed prior to being transported in an approved manner to a facility (either owned or subcontracted by the Provider) where slaughter and further processes will be undertaken. This may be because animals are found which have not been identified or registered in accordance with current legislative requirements. This lot gives the opportunity for providers to offer methods (including new or novel ones) for the mass depopulation of animals on an AP. The Authority is seeking to add providers that can provide alternative Depopulation solutions to a framework. All methods must be approved under WASK, and might include: — Electrical stun/kill; — Anoxic gas mixtures; — Other gas mixtures; — Chemical Euthanasia (Lethal Injection). Other types of depopulation services may be available which the Authority is not aware of — methods should be welfare friendly and comply with relevant legislation. Services may include Whole House Gassing, anoxic gas/foam delivery systems, gassing bags etc. Further instructions regarding the use of these culling methods would be issued at the time of call off. This lot is seeking Providers of general transport services who could be used to collect and deliver a range of large/bulky items around Great Britain. For Daily Routine Work, it's expected there would be a lead in time provided, outlining the quantity of items required to be hauled and the timeframe within it should be completed. In an Outbreak situation, there is likely to be a lead in time of between 6 and 12 hours notice of the requirements. It is highly likely that out of hours and weekend deliveries would be required to support an Outbreak or Incident. A range of transport options are considered from curtain sided trailers to open top lorries to move a range of items around GB (e.g. Containerised Gassing Units, animal handling equipment, plant health trailers, welfare units etc.). Most items are stored at a central site and would need to be delivered to the directed site within a very short period of time during an Outbreak or Incident. Driver's must be trained and certified. This Lot is seeking the safe and biosecure disposal by incineration of waste materials in a disposal facility or via a mobile incinerator approved for the processing such material under the relevant ABP/WID legislation. Unless specified, the word ‘incinerator’ means both fixed plant or mobile incineration device. If the incinerator provides an ‘ashes back’ service to clients (for example when providing a pet cremation service) and it incinerates specified risk material, the incinerator will be subject to an intensive cleansing and disinfection process prior to any ash being able to be returned to clients. The incinerator must be able to process a minimum of 1 (one) tonne per hour of waste material and should have access to a dedicated weighbridge/weighing mechanism. Providers should make alternative arrangements for processing their BAU waste at their own cost should it not be possible to allow the incinerator to continue processing routine waste. This Lot is seeking the safe and biosecure disposal by rendering of waste materials in a disposal facility approved for the processing of Category 1 or Category 2 Materials under the relevant ABP legislation. Multiple Providers from Lot 16 may be required to provide the Service. Providers must be willing to work with 3rd party Providers form Lot 16. Providers should make alternative arrangements for processing their Daily Routine Work waste at their own cost should it not be possible to allow the Disposal Facility to continue processing this material. If the Provider has more than one disposal line available for the provision of the Services, it may be possible to continue with Daily Routine Work at the same time — this will only be possible if the disposal line used to process Category 1 or 2 Waste materials is completely separate and biosecure, including separate dedicated entrances and exits to and from the Disposal Facility. In an outbreak situation APHA will need to check the pre. Transport of Waste materials which may be classified as UN class 6 dangerous goods by ADR legislation, as enforced in Great Britain by CDG 2009 (SI 2009 No 1348) and in Northern Ireland by CDG 2010 (SR 160) Drivers must be trained and certified commensurate to the relevant type of vehicle and dangerous goods being carried. Vehicles must also comply with the relevant parts of the CDG 2009 and CDG 2010 legislation. Transport of waste materials must be in leak-proof, sealed ‟containers‟. When in a sheeted container or vehicle, the load shall be covered by an additional top liner weighted down by absorbent material treated with an appropriate disinfectant. Transport providers are required as part of the specification to provide absorbent material e.g. sawdust, shavings and Visqueen Polythene sheeting or equivalent. It is also compulsory that a number of miscellaneous items be carried on board. Details can be found in the ADR legislation and guidance notes but will include, as a minimum. This lot has been designed to address Daily Routine Work requirements for the APHA and other interested Contracting Bodies. From time to time, there may be a requirement for a range of farm animals to be transported from their current location and then transported in an approved manner to another site. Reason for the use of this service may include, but are not limited to: — Animals which are subject to a court order and need to be removed for their own welfare. — When animals are on vehicles that during inspection are deemed to be unsuitable or unsafe for onward transit of the load and they need to be diverted to another location. There may be occasions where a rapid response to a call for service would be required, for example when the evacuation of animals is required because of imminent or likely risk to their welfare (e.g. flooding). The main types of animals include: — Bovines; — Ovines; — Porcines; — Caprines; — Cervines; — Camelids; — Equines; — Poultry. Though from time to time, The Authority or other Contracting Body (which will generally be the Local Authority) may on occasion need to safely transport animals or birds, which are: — Illegally landed (for example not accompanied with health certification, or incomplete or incorrect health certification) and are therefore liable to action such as being detained and or subject to quarantine. — Suspected of being infected with or exposed to a notifiable disease or other disease or agent, e.g. rabies, Suitable precautions must be taken by any Provider delivering this service to ensure human and animal safety, including minimising risks to workers and the general public. Diseases such as rabies which are zoonotic can be potentially transmitted between animals and people. Animals infected by diseases such as rabies may become aggressive, so care must be taken when working with them. Further information is available for Providers about working with zoonotics on the Health and Safety Executive pages or from. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have a statutory responsibility to fulfil the requirements of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, dealing with the protection of animals during transport and related operations to ensure that the welfare of the animals is safeguarded in the event that APHA is responsible for either identifying non-compliance by transporters and/or detention of animals as envisaged under Article 22 and Article 23 of the Regulation: In the event of an outbreak of a Notifiable Avian Disease (NAD — this includes Newcastle Disease and avian influenza) various means of euthanasia may be employed by the APHA. One such method is a system which has been devised and set up for the gassing of birds in Containerised Gassing Units (CGUs). These containers have been specifically designed for the purpose, utilising standard modules in common use in the poultry industry for containing the birds. The preferred gas mix is an argon/carbon dioxide mix at a ratio of 80/20 with a maximum oxygen content of 2 %. If water fowl are being dealt with, the preferred gas mix would have a 0 % oxygen mix. This lot has been included to generally allow the Authority or Contracting Body's to call of the gas for use in their own CGUs. There is a small amount of Daily Routine Work within this lot, mainly around supporting APHA field training activities. The Authority or other Contracting Body may have a requirement to source a range of flexible package or containment systems to assist in the safe collection and storage of a range of hazardous waste materials. This may include animals or animal by products that have been exposed to biological, chemical and radioactive material. These goods maybe sourced in advanced of their requirement or sought urgently in the event of an Outbreak or Incident. The purpose of this lot is to allow potential Providers to outline the types of systems they could offer which in the event of needing the goods, could easily be accessed via this framework. Products may include flexible packaging systems, such as foldable boxes or plastic packaging in a range of sizes and quantities. All products must comply with the relevant legislation and industry guidelines that apply to the end use purpose of the product.