Poultry valuation tables and the provision of specific advice on poultry valuation and related issues to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Description

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is responsible for enforcing poultry legislation. Part 6 (Section 30) of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (“the Act”) provides that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (“the Minister”) may direct the destruction and disposal of animals, animal products, feed and other things in certain circumstances listed in section 30 (1) of the Act, including where the animal is, may be, is suspected of, or is at risk of being affected with a disease or a disease agent or is a disease agent. Section 31 of the Act provides that the Minister may, subject to Part 6, pay compensation to the owner of a farm animal, animal product, animal feed or other thing relating to a farm animal, if the farm animal, product, feed or other thing is affected with a disease or a disease agent and is killed or destroyed under section 30 (1) to alleviate the risk of disease, to prevent the spread of disease or to diagnose, control or eradicate disease. The Act provides that the amount of any compensation paid cannot exceed the open market value of the animal before its killing or natural death or destruction (less any salvage value or payment under an insurance policy) as if the disease did not exist. To ensure that this compensation reflects the value of poultry, it is necessary for DAFM to be provided with tables of values for breeding, laying and meat production birds at various stages in their lifecycle, according to their age in days or weeks as appropriate. The development of these tables, across the full range of poultry enterprise types, requires specialist knowledge of each production system, and in particular knowledge of production costs. The successful Tenderer would need to analyse a range of data sets and market trends (input costs) to arrive at the value of the poultry. It is likely that the poultry valuation tables would be presented on a publicly facing website. The successful Tenderer will produce and maintain 29 poultry valuation tables for breeding, laying and meat production birds at various stages in their lifecycle (see below for a list of tables). The tables will be updated by the Tenderer every six months. This is a calculation every six months for the duration of the contract which shows the value of poultry at various stages in their lifecycle. The tables should show their age in days or weeks as appropriate, with a corresponding valuation, and should provide a narrative on the factors taken into account in the formulation of the valuation. The successful tenderer may be required to assist with and if required attend any national/EU audit or provide supporting evidence where an individual valuation or compensation payment based on such a valuation is the subject of a legal challenge.