Model health certificates for the import of aquaculture animals: EIR release

Information requested

As a follow up to our response to request 202100259890 concerning ova testing, imports/exports and disease risk assessments associated with farmed salmon ova, smolts wrasse and lumpfish, you further asked for copies of certificates relating to Stofnfiskur/Benchmark in Iceland; a certificate from Mowi in Ireland; a certificate to Aquagen's Hollywood Hatchery; and a certificate from Stofnfiskur/Benchmark to Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery, all with respect to the original timescale of request 202100259890 - 1 January 2020 to 2 December 2021.

Response

Please find attached copies of the information held which has been requested. This includes a copy of a certificate ‘relating to Mowi in Ireland’ and a copy of a certificate relating to ‘Stofnfiskur/Benchmark to Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery’. We have already provided you with a copy of a certificate relating to – Stofnfiskur/Benchmark in Iceland as part of the response to 202100259890. We do not hold any copies of certificates relating to imports by Aquagen to the ‘Hollywood Hatchery’ with respect to the time scale of this request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested, specifically with respect to ‘a certificate relating to imports by Aquagen to the ‘Hollywood Hatchery’. Therefore we are refusing this aspect of your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. For your information, we hold no information to suggest that an import from Aquagen to the ‘Holywood Hatchery’ occurred during the time scale of your request.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about imports from Aquagen to the ‘Holywood Hatchery’, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

Some of the information you have requested is available through responses to previous requests submitted to you – e.g. request 202100259890. Responses to information requests are published on the Scottish Government website https://www.gov.scot/publications/. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

As we have explained previously, recent changes to the import notification system, combined with the fact that there is no legal requirement to supply Scottish Government with health certificates associated with imports of live aquatic animals, means that the Scottish Government may not maintain a comprehensive and complete record of this type of information. This should be considered with respect to the response to this request.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 202200273889 - Information Released - Annex A

File type

6 page PDF

File size

3.2 MB

FOI - 202200273889 - Information Released - Annex B

File type

6 page PDF

File size

2.5 MB