FEBRUARY 1, 2008: A Government proposal to begin a poultry register has come under fire.
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) has calledfor an urgent meeting with Defra, saying it is concerned over what a process of ‘information sharing’ will entail.Head of gamekeeping and game shooting, Stewart Scull said: “We’re concerned that it is now being proposed to make this information available to multiple agencies not directly involved in disease outbreaks.”According to the BASC, the register was set up to help minimise the effects of avian influenza and assurances were made by Defra at the time that personal information would only be used for this purpose.Defra launched a consultation in November to find out the views of people already on the poultry register on the possibility of sharing information across other government departments such as HM Revenue and Customs.