UK: Poultry farmers win landmark avian influenza compensation case
A significant legal victory has been achieved by a collective of NFU members in a groundbreaking case against the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The case revolves around compensation for poultry farmers impacted by an outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) on their farms. With the backing of the NFU and its Legal Assistance Scheme, the poultry farmers effectively argued that the APHA had misconstrued the legal foundations of its compensation scheme. They contended that the agency failed to adequately compensate farmers whose birds were in good health at the time the decision was made to cull them.
The judge concluded that the government's policy was deemed unlawful. The High Court's ruling substantiates the NFU's longstanding stance that farmers affected by AI are entitled to compensation from the moment the APHA decides to cull the birds, rather than at the later stage of culling. Due to delays on the part of the APHA, a substantial number of initially healthy birds succumbed to AI during the intervening period.
