Comply with livestock movement standstill periods

When livestock arrive on your holding, a 'standstill period' automatically begins. During standstill, you cannot move other susceptible animals off the holding (with specific exemptions). Standstill periods are a critical disease control measure designed to prevent the rapid spread of animal diseases between multiple holdings.

Breaching standstill rules is a criminal offence that can result in prosecution, unlimited fines, and consequences under your farming scheme agreements. Understanding when standstill applies and what exemptions exist is essential for all livestock keepers.

Why standstill periods exist

Standstill periods serve several disease control purposes:

• They give diseases time to show in newly arrived animals before they can spread further.
• They stop animals being moved between several holdings in quick succession, which can amplify outbreaks.
• They make it easier for APHA to trace contacts during an outbreak, because animals stay on fewer holdings.
• They give you time to watch new arrivals for signs of disease before they mix with your existing stock.

Standstills have been proven to slow disease spread during outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, bluetongue, and other serious livestock diseases.

Standstill lengths by species

Standstill lengths vary by species based on typical incubation periods for the diseases affecting each animal type:

Understanding what 'standstill' means in practice

Standstill applies to the entire holding, not just the animals that moved. If you bring 5 sheep onto your farm, all sheep on the holding (including those already there) are subject to the standstill for 6 days.

For example, you own a farm with 100 ewes. On Monday, you buy 10 replacement ewes at market and bring them home. A 6-day standstill immediately begins. Day 1 is Tuesday (the day after arrival), so you cannot move any of your 110 sheep (the 10 new ones plus the original 100) off the holding until the following Monday. This applies even though 100 of your sheep never left the farm.

Standstill is not limited to the species that arrived. If cattle, sheep or goats arrive, all cattle, sheep, goats and pigs on the holding are subject to a 6-day standstill. If pigs arrive, pigs are subject to a 20-day standstill and cattle, sheep and goats to a 6-day standstill. Poultry are not affected by routine standstill rules.

When standstill begins

Standstill starts from the moment animals physically arrive on your land, not from when paperwork is completed or when you report the movement.

The arrival date is day 0:

• Cattle arrive Tuesday 10am → 6-day standstill runs until Monday 11:59pm (6 full calendar days)
• Pigs arrive Friday 6pm → 20-day standstill runs until Thursday 11:59pm three weeks later

Multiple arrivals extend standstill. If more animals of the same species arrive during standstill, the standstill 'clock' resets. Each new arrival starts a fresh standstill period.

For example, you bring sheep home on Monday (6-day standstill begins). On Thursday, you buy more sheep. The standstill resets from Thursday, meaning you now cannot move sheep until Thursday the following week (day 1 is Friday, the day after Thursday's arrival).

What movements are prohibited during standstill

During standstill, you cannot move susceptible animals:

• off the holding to another farm, market, show or common grazing
• to slaughter, except under the exemptions below
• between holdings you own if they have different CPH numbers
• to or from temporary land with a separate CPH number

You can move animals around within the same CPH number (e.g., between fields on the same farm). This is not a movement that triggers or extends standstill.

Standstill exemptions

Several important exemptions allow movements during what would otherwise be standstill periods. These exemptions exist to balance disease control with animal welfare and commercial necessity:

Direct to slaughter exemption

Animals in standstill can move directly to a slaughterhouse (or to a dedicated slaughter-only 'red' market) in the UK under the direct-to-slaughter exemption. It applies to cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, including pigs during the 20-day pig standstill. Conditions:

• Animals go directly to slaughter (no stopping at general markets, collection centres, or other holdings)
• Slaughter must occur within a specified timeframe at the destination
• Animals cannot be moved back from the slaughterhouse
• You must keep records proving the exemption was used correctly

Approved finishing units for pigs

Pigs can move from a breeding/weaner unit to a licensed finishing unit during standstill if:

• The finishing unit is registered and approved by APHA as an approved finishing unit (AFU)
• Pigs move under strict biosecurity conditions
• No movements back from the AFU are permitted
• The AFU maintains separate facilities preventing contact with other pigs

Contact APHA to register as an approved finishing unit. Registration involves inspection and biosecurity assessment.

Isolation facilities exemption

If you have APHA-approved isolation facilities on your holding, newly arrived animals can be isolated separately, and other animals may be able to move off the holding without breaching standstill. Requirements:

• Physical separation preventing all contact between isolated animals and the main herd/flock
• No shared airspace, water sources, or boundaries
• Separate handling equipment and biosecurity protocols
• APHA inspection and approval of facilities

Isolation facility approval is species-specific. Contact APHA to arrange assessment. Most small-scale keepers do not have isolation facilities that meet the approval criteria.

Emergency veterinary treatment

Animals can move during standstill for emergency veterinary treatment. This exemption is narrowly defined:

• Treatment must be genuinely urgent and cannot wait until standstill ends
• Treatment cannot be provided on the holding (e.g., requires specialist veterinary hospital)
• Your private veterinarian confirms emergency treatment is necessary
• Detailed records must be kept including veterinary advice

Routine treatments, TB testing and non-urgent procedures do not qualify for this exemption.

Deer exemption

Deer are exempt from standstill periods entirely. You can move deer on and off holdings without restriction (subject to normal movement reporting requirements). This exemption exists because deer farming practices differ significantly from other livestock, and deer-specific diseases have different epidemiology.

Poultry exemptions

Poultry have no general standstill requirements under normal circumstances. However, during notifiable disease outbreaks (such as avian influenza), standstill-like restrictions called 'movement controls' or 'housing orders' may be imposed within control zones. These are separate from routine standstill rules.

Common standstill scenarios and how to handle them

Buying cattle at market

You buy 3 cattle at market on Tuesday. You already have 20 cattle at home.

6-day standstill begins Tuesday. You cannot move any of your 23 cattle off the holding until Monday midnight. This includes the 20 cattle that never left home.

What you can do:

• Wait until the following Tuesday to move any cattle
• Use slaughter exemption if cattle are going directly to slaughter
• Isolate the 3 market cattle in approved isolation facilities (if you have them) so other cattle can move

Buying weaner pigs for fattening

You buy 50 weaner pigs for fattening on Friday.

20-day standstill begins Friday. You cannot move any pigs off the holding for 20 full days (until Thursday 3 weeks later).

What you can do:

• Send pigs directly to slaughter at any time — direct-to-slaughter movements are exempt from standstill
• Wait 20 days before moving pigs to another holding or general market
• If you're a licensed approved finishing unit, weaners can arrive from approved sources
• Plan your pig flow to avoid needing to move pigs during expected standstill periods

Taking sheep to a show

You want to take 5 sheep to an agricultural show. The show is in 4 days, and you bought 2 replacement ewes yesterday.

6-day standstill began yesterday when the 2 ewes arrived. You cannot move any sheep for 6 days.

You cannot take sheep to the show (it's in 4 days but standstill lasts 6 days). You must withdraw from the show or wait until standstill expires.

To avoid this, Plan movements carefully. Don't bring new animals onto the holding in the week before planned shows, sales, or other movements.

Multiple holdings with shared stock

You own two farms (separate CPH numbers). You want to move sheep between them regularly.

Each movement between CPH numbers triggers a new 6-day standstill at the receiving holding.

What you can do:

• Minimise inter-holding movements to reduce standstill frequency
• Plan movements so standstills don't overlap critical marketing periods
• Consider whether holdings could be managed under a single CPH (if land is contiguous and meets criteria)

Record keeping and proving compliance

You must maintain holding registers proving you complied with standstill rules. Records should show:

• when animals arrived and triggered a standstill
• when each standstill period ends
• when animals moved off after a standstill expired
• details of any slaughter or isolation exemption you used

APHA inspectors can cross-check movement reports against holding registers to verify standstill compliance. Discrepancies indicating standstill breaches can result in penalties even if detected months later.

Penalties for breaching standstill

Moving animals during standstill without a valid exemption is a criminal offence, and you can be prosecuted and given an unlimited fine.

Additional consequences beyond criminal penalties:

• Breaches can lead to recovery or termination of payments under SFI, Countryside Stewardship and other agri-environment agreements (cross-compliance ended on 31 December 2023)
• Red Tractor and other assurance schemes suspend membership for standstill breaches, and their auditors check your holding register against movement reports at annual inspections.
• Your holding may be placed under official movement restrictions until investigations complete
• If a breach contributes to disease spread, you could face additional penalties and compensation claims

Tips for managing standstill periods

• Before buying animals, check whether you need to move other stock soon. Avoid buying in the week before planned sales or shows.
• Mark standstill end dates on a calendar or use farm management software that calculates standstill automatically
• Where you can, bring all new animals onto the farm on the same day to avoid multiple overlapping standstills
• If you regularly need to move animals while others arrive, investing in APHA-approved isolation may be worthwhile
• If someone wants to collect animals from you, explain that standstill may delay collection and agree dates accordingly
• Plan purchases around market dates to ensure standstill doesn't prevent attending future sales
• If you use the slaughter exemption, keep slaughter records proving animals went directly to slaughter
• Make sure everyone moving animals understands standstill rules and checks before moving stock

Standstill during disease outbreaks

Standstill periods apply under normal circumstances. During notifiable disease outbreaks (foot-and-mouth, avian influenza, bluetongue, etc.), APHA can impose additional movement restrictions that supersede normal standstill rules.

These disease control restrictions include:

• protection zones, typically 3 km around an infected premises, where no movements are allowed
• surveillance zones, typically 10 km around an infected premises, where only licensed movements are allowed
• temporary control zones with regional or national movement bans
• standstills extended beyond the normal 6 or 20 days

During an outbreak, follow APHA instructions and check GOV.UK for movement restriction updates. Disease control restrictions always override normal standstill rules.