WN 2001

For reasons that will be explained in our next newsletter, we have concluded that it would be unnecessary and possibly not cost-effective to appeal at this stage against Mr Justice Owen's Judgment (see here) in our Judicial Review, despite the numerous errors and misapplications of the law which are contained within it.

We have therefore sent the Minister an Open Letter (see here) which protects our position should the Ministry renege on the proposed Pilot Scheme which was announced as a result of our legal challenge.

If the Ministry now means what it says, our Appeal would probably coincide with the introduction of the scheme and could be regarded as redundant. If the Ministry delays further, it will have absolutely no defence to the legal action that would necessarily follow.

27th October 1999 : Press release concerning publication of Quarantine Kennel Report now available in                                   Press Release section.

10th October 1999:  Judgement with comments now available on Member's Page

10th Oct. 1999 : Member's opinion response form regarding future action now on Member's Page

7th October 1999 :  Newsletter 19 now available on Members Page

                               Please note :1 For members having difficulty accessing the members page, please                                                        add .html immediately after the password.
                                                  2. For members with a legal bent, we will shortly be placing the Judicial                                                         Review Judgment with our foot-noted comments for further legal                                                         opinion enclosed, on the members page.

5th October 1999 : Press release concerning result of Judicial Review available in Press Release section

1st Oct.1999  : Text of judgement is now available on the Members Page.

                       Note:   MAFF have extended the closing date of the consultation exercise to October                                    15th.   All Members and visitors to these pages are encouraged to write to MAFF                                     before this date, giving their views.(see note below dated 20th Aug).

30th Sept.1999 : Message concerning the judgement has been posted on the Members Page.

30th Sept.1999:  The judge has ruled in favour of MAFF--further details will be posted as soon as possible.

29th Sept.1999:  Quaff Press Release in advance of Judicial Review decision now available in Press                             Release section.

         UK Members note: there will be a programme about the PETS scheme on BBC2 at 1930 on 30th            September.

28th Sept 1999 :  The Judge will hand down his decision on our Judicial Review at 1430 on Thursday 30                               September.

27th Sept 1999:  Addendum to Newsletter 18 now available on Members Page

25th Sept 1999:
                             Newsletter 18 now available on Members Page         

a. We are investigating a rumour that a Judicial Review finding may be available on 30 September.
b. In response to the MAFF's open invitation for comment on the proposals for the Pet Travel Pilot Scheme (see MAFF website) and also on the incarceration of the Izmit Rescue Dogs, please see QUAFF's responses (here). Anyone visiting this site is encouraged to write to MAFF with their opinion.

8th Sept 1999 : JUDICIAL REVIEW. We are STILL waiting for judgement. The Legal term starts shortly and we will be trying to find out when the Judge will pronounce.

31st August 1999 : GET READY
The MAFF have updated the Q&A section of their Pet Travel Scheme pages. They include advice on Getting Ready for the 'PETS' pilot scheme.A most important point to note in the proposed legislation is that Blood Tests conducted before 27 May 99 are invalid and will not accepted. If your animal's bloodtest certificate predates 27/5 you must have another test taken.

In our forthcoming newsletter we will cover this, a suggested response to the consultation letter and howls of protest over the incarcerated 'Turkish' rescue dogs.

20th August 1999: Government announces(18/8/99)consultation exercise on draft legislation for Pet Travel Scheme. Read details here

3rd August 1999: Government announces further details of Pet Travel Scheme. Read here. (Note: if using  Netscape Communicator 4.6 you may have to override the new MAFF website page colours in Preferences in order to make it legible.)

This announcement received major news coverage in the UK but on examination shows continuing evidence of the disappointing rate of progress towards change, and contains at least one   significant obstacle .

Major points :            -still no firm start date for the pilot scheme,although it is to be "fully in place by                                     April 2000" as per previous announcements.                                   
                                 -still no designated routes/carriers into the UK
                                 -required Pet Health Certificates not available until "later in the year"
                                 -list of rabies-free islands still undefined,and no further news regarding the USA &                                     Canada; Cyprus evidently excluded from qualifying countries/islands
                                 -UK vets now allowed to administer rabies vaccine without permission from                                      MAFF (a plus)
                                 -list of 11 MAFF approved blood testing laboratories now available (another plus).                                     However, tests carried out at these labs prior to MAFF "certification" on 27th                                     May 1999 will not be acceptable! At first sight, the legality of this under                                     European law appears questionable.MAFF also advise that these labs provide                                    "extremely limited blood-testing capacity",which could imply delays.The MAFF                                     Pets Helpline today clarified this to mean that if thousands of pet owners decided                                     to get their pets blood-tested at the same time,there could be problems.A quick                                     check today with the labs in France, Belgium and Switzerland found current                                     turn-around times of 5-15 days,and in the case of Belgium, 24 hours in an                                     emergency.
                                -pets will require certified treatment  by a government (i.e.country of embarkation)                                     recognised vet for certain parasites and infections between 24 and 48 hours                                     prior to entry to the UK.This is the "exotic diseases" solution recommended (with                                     no published risk analysis) by the ACDP(Advisory Committee on Dangerous                                     Pathogens),and will present a significant practical obstacle to returning pet                                     owners.

   We also note that in the Q&A section on the MAFF website,Section 9  Judicial Review,                  Question 6      "  What happens if the QUAFF application succeeds before the Government has introduced a new system?"  does not yet have an answer!

24th July 1999: Prime Minister Tony Blair allows pet dog to bypass UK quarantine. Read article here

24th July 1999 : JUDICIAL REVIEW --- DECISION AWAITED

We spoke with Mr Justice Owen's clerk yesterday. He informed us that the Judge has been in court continuously since our case because of a serious shortage of High Court Judges. The cases have been listed back-to-back and the judge has been given no time to consider and write out his judgement. However, his clerk has reported that the judge has instructed that his car be packed with all the files from the case for working on during the holiday. Naturally, we are disappointed by the delay.

It seems sensible to take our holiday at the same time. Therefore please note that the QUAFF office will be closed during August. Please try and avoid sending mail of any sort during this month.

Additional members information is on the MEMBERS PAGE (HQ Update).

1st July 1999 :MAFF have just placed details of the requirements of Microchipping and Vaccination for the new Pilot Scheme on their website at Details of PeTS. It is not very helpful since it does not address the critical hold-up factor, Blood Testing, which they say must be completed 6 months before entry. We are still hoping that this may be affected by the outcome of the Judicial Review, the decision on which we still await.

30 June 1999 : Newsletter 17 uploaded to Members' Page,together with membership update form and eclipse shades order form.

18 June 1999: Notwithstanding the advice given below in "Is your pet ready to travel?", we now understand that the MAFF is seeking to impose a NEW and more complicated blood test  than that which is used for Traded dogs and cats (as well as resulting in a delay of 6 months). OUR ADVICE IS THEREFORE TO CONTINUE WITH THE PRESENT BLOOD TEST BUT TO ASK YOUR VET TO RETAIN A SECOND SAMPLE, CAREFULLY DATED, READY FOR SUBMISSION SHOULD THIS PROVE TO BE THE CASE.

15 June 1999: Our JUDICIAL REVIEW against the MAFF was heard by Mr Justice Owen last week and ended on Monday 14th.  The judge reserved his judgement, which means that he is giving it more thought. We do not know when he will hand it down; it could be a week, or up to 5/6 weeks. In our opinion, our solicitors, Berwin Leighton of London, prepared a splendid case and it was presented equally splendidly by Mr Alastair Sutton and Mr Adam Lewis of Blackstone Chambers.  Details of our evidence and an informal daily court report are available on the members page. A newsletter is being drafted for members.  Suffice to say that having heard the case and the MAFF response, we are optimistic of the outcome.
This may not be the final stage of our pursuit of  free movement of pets, so we are extremely keen that all those 'right thinking people' continue to join QUAFF and help fund and fight the case (see application form on the CONTACT US page).

11th June 1999: Short summaries/impressions of the Judicial Review days 1-3 uploaded to Members'   Page (also sent to Members via e-mail).

9th June 1999 :
On 9th June we sent a short E-Mail report on the first day of Judicial Review to all members on-line that we have in our QUAFF address book. Any MEMBER reading this who did not receive that report, please send a short EMail to Quaff HQ : quaff@lagness.prestel.co.uk , and we will update our address book accordingly.

5th June 1999 : Message from June Hamilton to all members on Members' Page.

5th June 1999:  Judicial Review - 24 hour delay for public hearing
The case will begin, as scheduled on Tuesday, June 8th but the judge has requested a full reading day, presumably to cope with the considerable volume of documents, before the Court convenes. The hearing proper, therefore, will now begin on morning of Wednesday, June 9, at the Royal Courts of Justice. The case number is CO/4512/97.

4th June 1999 : Judicial Review Affidavits now available on the Members' Page.

3rd June 1999  :  Advice note "Is Your Pet Ready To Travel" uploaded to Rabies Info section here

20th May 1999  : Press Release on June 8th Judicial Review -Read in Press Releases section

4 May 1999

SUCCESS - BUT THE FIGHT IS NOT YET OVER - WE NEED
CONTINUING SUPPORT
The Government's recent announcement of it's intention to change the Quarantine laws is a direct result of our pending legal action., with which we must continue, if we want to see real change. The announcement is NOT a coincidence - it is a RESULT of their knowing that they are in breach of Community Law and thatthe legal challenge may be damaging to their health!

QUAFF's Judicial Review is presently continuing as planned, all the way to Luxembourg if necessary; but hopefully the High Court in London will resolve the question once and for all. The four day hearing is scheduled for June 8 and our lawyers remain confident.

Members have responded wonderfully to a request for additional funding, but there are still a few members who have made no contribution to the Judicial Review Fund and we would really appreciate their help. Fund-raising for any court case is never a picnic - and we really need all the help we can get. Many thanks to all those who HAVE contributed so generously. We, and all our members, truly appreciate it.

If those interested in giving serious help would contact the Quarantine help-line and/or send a fax and join our organisation, it would be most useful and would make our lives easier and less expensive for QUAFF. Membership application forms may be downloaded from this site.

Thank you. QUAFF  

FLASH (26/3/99): Government announces response to Kennedy Report.Pilot scheme to be introduced within 12 months, full scheme in 2 years. Read details here and news release here.

FLASH   (11/3/99)  :The Judicial Review has been rescheduled to start on June 8th.

This has been at QUAFF's request and on legal advice,following the unfortunate serious illness of one of our Expert witnesses, who is now recovering from major surgery.This decision has not been an easy one, and further details will be given in Newsletter 16,due out next week. Rest assured, however, that the fight continues! 

FLASH   (17/3/99) : Newsletter 16 is now available on the Members' Page.  

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Last modified: 14 March, 2001