English and Scottish exhibitors barred from Royal Welsh Show
English and Scottish livestock exhibitors will not be allowed to compete in this year's Royal Welsh Show due to the Bluetounge virus.
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society have said they have taken the taken the decision due to veterinary advice about the 'unique risks' of the show.
The Bluetongue virus is a highly infectious disease spread amongst sheep and cattle by infected midges
It is listed by the UK government as a notifiable disease and the last year has seen multiple outbreaks in England.
This has culminated with a recent change being announced by DEFRA which will see 'the restricted zone for bluetongue extended to cover all of England' from July 1 – 'this means that from this date you will be able to move animals within England without a bluetongue licence or test'.
As a result, the show which will be held on the week of July 21 had to asses the situation.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society said: 'While supporting the unrestricted movement of animals is important to us, our primary focus has been on developing a showing policy for this year's Royal Welsh Show that protects our exhibitors and the integrity of the event.
'The Show presents unique risks – it is a large-scale gathering of susceptible animals sharing close airspace over five to six days, and it takes place during the peak vector season. This is distinctly different form one-day livestock markets or direct farm-to-farm movements.
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'For this reason we have adopted a precautionary approach and will not be accepting livestock entries from any exhibitors based within an BTV Restriction Zone nor from those who need to travel through an RZ to reach the show.
"This includes all entries from England and Scotland."
The Society added that the decision 'relates to this year's Royal Welsh Show and the Show alone'.
They added: 'This has not been an easy decision for us We have explored all available options including pre-movement testing and unrestricted entries. Each had its pros and cons, but ultimately, none provided the level of risk mitigation we require or proved practically workable.'
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