Verbeek Hatchery receives EU-AI compartment status
Verbeek Hatchery, headquartered in Lunteren, the Netherlands, is the second poultry business in the European Union to be officially awarded with compartmentalisation.
The EU-AI certificate implies that the entire hatchery production complex, including the subsidiary Verbeek Poultry International, its vaccine production site VPI, the vaccine hatchery, and five vaccine egg supplier companies are jointly recognised as a compartment. The facilities have met extremely strict hygiene requirements and can therefore be treated as a compartment in case of an outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI).
Deputy agriculture minister Henk Bleker presented the certificate to Pieter Kruit, general director of Verbeek Hatchery.
At the moment, the Netherlands are compartmentalised into 20 zones. Should AI be discovered in one of them, strict transport regulations will become effective. The compartmentalisation for Verbeek implies that its facilities are exempt from these requirements – and business can continue as usual.
The Scottish breeder Ross was the first to be recognised as a separate compartment. Others have applied for compartmentalisation, but withdrew their application as the requirements were considered too strict.
Verbeek Hatchery have officially met the requirements since October 2011.
