No deals done to bolster carnival

VICTORIA's chief veterinary officer, Hugh Millar, has rejected claims that special deals are being done with auction houses and racing administrators to allow feature events to go ahead as scheduled in February and March next year, after the equine influenza disaster.

A national phone hook-up yesterday involving chief veterinary officers from all states and territories is eventually expected to endorse the phasing in of new protocols that will allow horse movement across borders as early as January.
But Millar said this would happen under guidelines that will apply nationally and not exclusively to Victoria.
"What I've been hearing is that there are all sorts of side deals being done to allow racing carnivals and horse sales to go ahead in Melbourne early next year," Millar said.
"That is quite untrue. What's happening is that the national framework that manages this disease is producing nationally agreed protocols and, when they are finalised, they will be applied equally to all states and to any horse, yearlings or ponies or racehorses, that meets the requirements.
"With any luck, they will facilitate certain things like yearling sales and racing events like the Inter Dominion (trotting carnival) in Melbourne. They will not be special protocols for those events, nor is Victoria doing any particular deal with any one sales company, or anything like that.
"There seems to be a feeling that special arrangements have been put in place and that is not the case."
The consultative committee for emergency diseases is developing protocols that might allow some horses to start moving around Australia, particularly horses out of affected areas in NSW and Queensland.
Consensus is expected to be reached at the latest, by the end of the week, as the containment and eradication policies appear to show the fight is slowly being won.
Millar said it was unproductive and unrewarding to speculate too much on when things will be "back to normal".
"I think what is clear is that progress with disease containment and eradication in NSW and Queensland is sufficiently good," Millar said.
"A progressive process of allowing things to happen as the risks diminish is happening now. The prospect of developing a month ago these protocols that will be revealed this week was just not on.
"There was too much uncertainty and the incidence of the disease were still on the rise. Things are very much under control, not gone, but under control to the point where these protocols become possible. The light is at the end of the tunnel."
Millar said the restrictions would remain in some shape or form but there could be a return to normality by the middle of next year. In the meantime, there will be a progressive freeing-up as the prevailing risk environment improves.
"We are in a positive but cautious situation. Vigilance is still extremely important and, in Victoria's case, we're not about to take any risks of introducing equine influenza," he said.
"Having said that, the risk environment does allow us, as part of the national management of this disease, to start looking at a safe way of doing certain things."