What CHECS does

What CHECS does

What CHECS does

CHECS sets industry standards and regulates cattle health schemes in the UK and Ireland –

CHECS does not run a health scheme itself

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CHECS sets and reviews protocols so that each scheme is running to the same high standards and using proven biosecurity measures to help control and eradicate infectious disease. It audits a number of farms every year and makes unscheduled visits to national shows, markets, sales and winter fairs to ensure standards are being maintained.

CHECS effectively issues a stamp of approval for health schemes in the UK and Ireland. You can be confident that any licensed scheme bearing the CHECS logo conforms to an industry standard and that its laboratories meet ISO: 17025, which certifies their competence to carry out valid tests and/or calibrations, including sampling.

CHECS has three primary aims...

01

CHECS promotes improvements in cattle health & welfare through its approaches to cattle disease control or eradication.

02

CHECS specifies standards for and licenses cattle health schemes, ensuring labs and protocols are consistent and robust.

03

CHECS forges and maintains strong national and international links with stakeholders like farmers, vets and Government.

CHECS standards necessitate a very strong focus on farm biosecurity and quarantine procedures, with herd vets required to certify annually that such procedures have been implemented; herd vets are therefore an integral part of all licensed schemes.

Where this differs is in relation to CHECS TB Herd Accreditation, where health scheme providers must source test data (with the permission of the participating farmer) from the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA), which runs the statutory TB testing and control regime nationally

CHECS TB Testing