EPA 18

Conduct import document, identity and physical checks at a Border Control Post.

Conduct checks on live animals and/or products of animal origin (POAO) entering a Border Control Post to comply with the relevant legislation and importation requirements.

Checks on live animals entering the UK are essential for safeguarding animal health and welfare; preventing entry of exotic notifiable disease, safeguarding public health, facilitating free trade and ensuring that relevant conditions for animal welfare have been met.

Checks must be carried out in a systematic and consistent way to comply with animal and public health legislation and verifying the specific requirements of the relevant export health certificate. This ensures that the animals or products being imported are verified not to present a risk to animal or public health.

To have effectively carried out checks on live animals and/or POAO (including germinal products) upon entry to the UK in a systematic way and showing regard for animal health and welfare, food safety and trade,

To effectively advise on import non-compliances, including import breaches, in relation to the conditions listed above, or the carrying out of post-import quality assurance and spot checks.

Other relevant contributions include wider activities relating to rabies quarantine centre and other approved establishment approvals, market access requests and in country audits, equivalence and certification, relating to facilitation of trade.

To perform this role across the full range of relevant contexts including different:

• Animal species
• Storage, preservation and labelling requirements for POAO

There is the potential for all domains within the RCVS Day One Competences to be relevant to this EPA, however the key areas involved in performance of this activity/area of practice are as follows:

Veterinary capability

• Individual animal
• Animal population care and management
• One Health/public health

Reflective relationships

• Communication
• Collaboration

Personal leadership

• Professionalism
• Adaptability