Safeguarding public and animal health

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Data Protection Statement

Data Protection Act 1998 – Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA)

Fair Processing Notice

The purpose of this Fair Processing Notice is to inform you of the uses that will be made of your personal data, as required by the Data Protection Act 1998. Individual Fair Processing Notices will also be issued if required under the data protection legislation when we gather your personal data for specific purposes.

Defra, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Food Standards Agency are data controllers in common in respect of information supplied to and processed by AHVLA.

Information collected and processed by AHVLA (an Executive Agency of Defra) is for the purpose of carrying out its responsibilities in animal health and welfare, disease surveillance, public health, conservation and compliance with marketing regulations.

A list of the legislation under which AHVLA may be required to process personal data can be found in our legislation page.

The purposes for which AHVLA or Defra may use the data include the following:

• to work collaboratively with the industry, delivery partners and policy makers to jointly deliver the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain and the Government’s wider objectives in animal health and welfare;

• for animal disease surveillance including national disease control programmes;

• to investigate and report positive results for notifiable or reportable diseases

• for visits and inspections in relation to AHVLA’s areas of responsibility;

• to develop, refine and test contingency plans for managing notifiable disease outbreaks;

• for modelling the possible spread of disease, to inform risk assessments and possible impacts of disease;

• to implement control measures in the event of notifiable or reportable disease outbreaks;

• to trace and test known contacts in relation to animal disease or outbreaks of human disease linked to animal sources;

• to license and inspect a wide range of premises, such as markets and quarantine centres;

• to license and inspect a wide range of activities, such as animal movements, dairy hygiene, egg marketing and the protection of wildlife and endangered species;

• to inform the Veterinary Medicines Directorate of any suspected adverse reaction to a pharmaceutical product;

• to provide guidance and information to promote good animal health and welfare and reduce disease risk;

• to provide advice and information to Ministers;

• for policy advice and formulation;

• for research purposes and/or scientific trials;

• for producing reports and publications whilst strictly maintaining client confidentiality

Personal data held by AHVLA may be made available to Local Authorities and other Public Bodies within the UK and European Union to fulfil statutory obligations. AHVLA may share your personal data with other parts of Defra including the Executive Agencies, the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, the Food Standards Agency, the Health Protection Agency and other agencies/ organisations and enforcement authorities where necessary and appropriate.

Defra, AHVLA and the other public authorities who hold the data may be required to release the information, including personal data and commercial information, on request, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 or Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. However, Defra, AHVLA and the other public authorities will not permit any unwarranted breach of confidentiality or act in contravention of our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Defra and AHVLA may use your name, address, telephone number and other details to contact you in connection with occasional customer research aimed at improving the services that Defra and AHVLA provide to you.

If you wish to obtain a copy of your personal data held by Defra and AHVLA, please send your request together with supporting evidence (if appropriate) to:

Please note that you may be charged a fee of £10 for this service. You may also be asked to provide proof of your identity and for information that will help us locate the data you are seeking.

AHVLA’s public service guarantee on data handling gives details of your rights in respect of the handling of your personal data.

If you believe that any of the information we hold concerning you is incorrect or out of date, please provide us with the accurate information, preferably by contacting your local AHVLA office.

A paper copy of this notice, as well as the other web pages referred to, can be provided if needed - please contact Customer and Stakeholder Services, using the contact details given above.