Consultation closes on 24th March
Full details of the Consultation and online survey
The government published a response to the Godfray Review in March 2020, setting out three top priorities for the next phase of the bTB Strategy:
- accelerating work to develop a deployable cattle vaccine in the next five years;
- evolving the wildlife control policy, by beginning to phase out intensive badger culling in the next few years and gradually replacing this with government-supported badger vaccination and surveillance. Culling would remain an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed;
- improving diagnostic testing to root out bTB more effectively, with deployment of more sensitive tests for surveillance supported by greater use of on-farm restriction of cattle with inconclusive test results.
This consultation sets out in more detail proposed changes to aspects of bTB policy in keeping with these priorities, in order to begin the transition into the next phase of the bTB Strategy. It purposefully brings together cattle and wildlife measures given our strategy is holistic.