The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court ruling that APHA had misinterpreted legislation underpinning its avian influenza (AI) compensation scheme.
In January 2024, a group of NFU members won a landmark legal challenge against the APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) in a case about compensation for poultry farmers affected by an AI outbreak on their farm.
The farmers who brought the claim argued that APHA had wrongly interpreted the law and failed to properly compensate affected farmers for birds which were healthy at the point at which it decided they should be culled APHA has now successfully appealed that decision.
NFU Poultry Board chair James Mottershead said: “The judgment handed down is an incredibly disappointing result for the members involved in this case.
“Not only have they suffered the devastating loss of their birds to avian influenza, but this decision means that they will no longer receive the compensation they had expected.
“The financial and emotional strain on farmers, their families and members of staff affected by AI should not be underestimated.
“The NFU will need time to fully consider the judgment and our position going forward, along with the implications for the members who brought the claim and the wider poultry sector.”