Animal gatherings: licences
How to apply for a licence, when you need a licence, fees, licence conditions and records you must keep.
Applies to England and Wales
When you need an animal gatherings licence
If you want to hold an animal gathering, the premises must have an Animal Gatherings Order (AGO) licence from Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
An animal gathering is when certain species of animals are brought together from different places:
- to be sold
- to be sent elsewhere (for example, for slaughter)
- for show or exhibition
- to be inspected for breed characteristics (for example, to assess pedigree status)
The animal species include:
- cattle (excluding bison and yak)
- sheep
- pigs
- deer
- goats
Gatherings of poultry and other captive birds are not licensed in the same way but must be registered. Read the bird gathering general licence.
You must have an animal gathering licence if your gathering involves poultry or captive birds and any of the animals listed.
It’s an offence to hold an animal gathering without a licence.
When you do not need a licence
You do not need a licence to hold an animal gathering if:
- all the animals brought to the premises come from one holding
- animals are dispersed from one holding
Get an animal gatherings licence
Complete the application for a licence to hold an animal gathering form (AGO01) and a plan of the proposed site.
You can get help with the AGO01 form from APHA.
Send the completed forms to APHA:
- for England, send to One Health CSC, County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP or email to CSCOneHealthAGO@apha.gov.uk
- for Wales, send to the Caernarfon Field Service Office or email to APHA.CymruWales@apha.gov.uk
After you have submitted the form, APHA will arrange a visit by a veterinary inspector to discuss your application and inspect the premises.
Your licence will be posted to you if the veterinary inspector is satisfied that the licence conditions will be met.
Give notice
At least 14 days before you hold each animal gathering under your licence, you must tell APHA and your local council:
- the times when the licensed premises will be open to receive animals
- the purpose of the animal gathering
You do not need to do this if the dates were included in your application form.
Fees
Unless you are exempt, as a licensee you must pay licensing fees to APHA for premises used to hold an animal gathering.
APHA will assess the level of animal health risk and the amount of work needed to process your application. This determines your fee. APHA will carry out an inspection in most cases.
When you do not need to pay
You do not need to pay for your licence if the gathering is either:
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a show or exhibition open to the public for only one day and no animals are sold or auctioned
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only to inspect animals for specific breed characteristics
What you must pay fees for
You must pay fees for:
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licence application assessments (whether the application is approved or not)
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licence renewals (yearly)
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licence amendments (such as a change of licensee or change of use or premises) - an additional inspection may be needed
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additional inspections if a licence cannot be issued or reissued after the first inspection
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veterinary inspector travel time up to 90 minutes
Fees for markets or sales and collections centres
| Service | Fees |
|---|---|
| Application for licence or amendment (low disease risk). Includes up to 90 minutes of inspection time. | £433 |
| Application for licence or amendment (more than a low disease risk). Includes 2 inspections of up to 90 minutes. | £780 |
| Annual licence renewal (low disease risk) needing only one inspection. Includes up to 75 minutes of inspection time. | £387 |
| Annual licence renewal (more than a low disease risk) needing 2 inspections. Includes up to 75 minutes per inspection. | £550 |
Fees for shows or exhibitions
| Service | Fees |
|---|---|
| Application for licence (low disease risk). Includes up to 60 minutes of inspection time. | £283 |
| Application for licence (more than a low disease risk). Includes up to 90 minutes of inspection time | £467 |
| Annual licence renewal: no inspection needed. | £201 |
| Annual licence renewal: basic inspection needed. Includes up to 60 minutes of inspection time. | £329 |
| Annual licence renewal: more than a basic inspection needed. Includes up to 60 minutes of inspection time. | £329 |
Extra fees (for all types of gathering)
Note that extra inspection time beyond the first 75 minutes will be rounded up to the nearest 15 minutes. For example: extra inspection time of between 1 minute and 15 minutes will cost £24, extra inspection time of between 16 and 30 minutes will cost £48, and so on. Veterinary inspector travel time will also be rounded up to the nearest 15 minutes, up to a maximum of 90 minutes.
| Service | Fees |
|---|---|
| Additional inspection for licence application, annual licence renewal, or non compliance. Includes up to 75 minutes of inspection time. | £362 |
| Inspection for licence amendments. Includes up to 75 minutes of inspection time. | £362 |
| Extra inspection time after the first 75 minutes. Charged per 15 minutes. | £24 |
| Veterinary inspector travel time. Charged per 15 minutes, up to a maximum of £144. | £24 |
Animal gatherings licence conditions
You must make sure that you comply with the conditions in your licence. These conditions are listed on the application form and include the following:
- you take all reasonable steps to prevent the spread of disease during animal gatherings (biosecurity measures) – see
- you appoint a biosecurity officer to make sure licence conditions are upheld (this can be the licence holder)
- there is a fence around the licensed area to prevent animals escaping
- animals only enter or leave the animal area in a vehicle (they must only be loaded onto and off vehicles in the animal area)
- no animals arrive after a period of 48 hours from the start time the licensed premises advertised they will be open for receiving animals. You can ask APHA to extend this period in some circumstances
- you keep records to allow tracing of animals
- you comply with animal welfare rules and do not allow sick or injured animals to be presented for sale
- you have documented operational procedures including contingency plans for adverse events such as power or lighting failure, inability to effectively cleanse and disinfect, transport failure, animal welfare incidents
- you have a contingency plan for what you would do if notifiable disease were suspected during a gathering. As a minimum, this must be based on the AGO04 plan available
Renew your licence
Your licence lasts for one year. It’s your responsibility to reapply if you need to renew the licence.
How often animal gatherings can take place and for how long
You must make sure that it’s at least 27 days since the last animal left the premises and all equipment has been cleaned and disinfected.
The 27 day rule does not apply if the area is entirely paved with a material that can be, and is, effectively cleaned and disinfected in between animal gatherings. Accepted materials include:
- cement
- concrete
- asphalt
- other impermeable materials
Records you must keep
You must record:
- names and addresses of all staff working in the animal area
- whether staff have contact with livestock anywhere else
- the origin of the animals involved in each gathering
- the destination of the animals or, if not available, details about the buyer
- details about any vehicles used to transport the animals so that they can be traced if necessary
Records must be up to date and must be kept for 6 months.
You must report the movements of animals so these can be recorded on the national animal movement databases:
Facilities needed at premises
If the licensed animal area is paved, you must make sure that the floor and all fixtures and fittings in animal areas:
- are in a good state of repair
- can be cleaned and disinfected after each gathering
There must be a separate area for cleaning and disinfecting vehicles used to transport animals. This area must be suitable for cleaning and disinfecting after each gathering.
If you need to move animals between areas, the areas must be one of the following:
- adjoining
- connected by designated walkways
Animal gatherings for slaughter
If you’re holding a gathering for slaughter involving animals that have not served standstill on a farm it must be held on a paved animal area. Gatherings for slaughter cannot be held as part of any other type of animal gathering.
Disposal of animal products
All animal by-products must be disposed of, including:
- feeding stuffs
- bedding
- excreta
- any other contaminants derived from animals
They must be disposed of in one of the following ways:
- destroyed
- disposed of so that animals do not have access to them
- treated to remove the risk of disease transmission
The disposal method must be documented.
When the animal gathering is over
When each animal gathering held under your licence is over you must make sure that equipment and paved areas are cleaned and disinfected after all the animals have left the site and before the next animal gathering.
Penalties
If you hold an animal gathering without a licence or fail to comply with the licence conditions you may be prosecuted.
You may also have your licence suspended or withdrawn and may be subject to additional monitoring by APHA or the local council.
Updates to this page
Published 15 September 2014Last updated 4 December 2024 + show all updates
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Updated the Welsh version of the guidance to reflect increases in fees from 1 December 2024 and clarify wording in fee tables.
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Updated to reflect increases in fees from 1 December 2024. Clarified wording in fee tables.
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Added translation
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Fee information has been removed from the PDF attachment and added to the page. Fees increased on 1 December 2022 and will increase again in December 2023.
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Fees document updated.
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Added translation
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Page translated into Welsh language
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Linked to fees document
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Amendment made due to requirements of the new Animal Gatherings (Fees) (England) Order 2018 and Animal Gatherings (Fees) Order (Wales) 2018.
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Guidance rewritten due to changes in the animal gathering licence process.
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AHVLA documents have been re-assigned to the new Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
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First published.