Barriers to vaccination of cattle against TB and what is being done to change the law
Vaccination of cattle against TB is currently prohibited by EU legislation, in place principally because BCG vaccination of cattle can interfere with the tuberculin skin test which is the recognised primary diagnostic test for TB in cattle.
Vaccinating cattle in the UK against TB but without a Marketing Authorisation for the vaccine runs the risk that live cattle and cattle product exports could be banned by other countries. While the export market for live cattle is relatively small, the value of our meat and dairy exports is much greater. Our dairy exports alone grew by nearly 20% in 2011, to more than £1.1billion.