Official Veterinary appointment

Undertaking ante-mortem inspection at the holding of provenance

The veterinarian carrying out ante-mortem inspection at a holding of provenance must either be:

• a fully qualified Official Veterinarian (OV) working on behalf of the FSA with valid warrants; or
• a veterinarian appointed by the FSA for the purpose of undertaking ante-mortem inspection at the holding of provenance.

The ante-mortem inspection at the holding of provenance includes the following duties:

• ante-mortem inspection outside the slaughterhouse of domestic ungulates requiring emergency slaughter;
• ante-mortem inspection at the holding of provenance of animals intended for slaughter at an abattoir;
• ante-mortem inspection of poultry where the holding is authorised for on-farm slaughter,
• ante-mortem inspection of farmed game where the holding is authorised for on-farm slaughter

Appointment by the FSA as an Official Veterinarian at Holdings of Provenance (OV-HoP)

Veterinarians interested in becoming part time an OV-HoP must be members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and pass a test set by the FSA about ante-mortem inspection.

How to apply for Official Veterinarian at Holdings of Provenance (OV-HoP) appointment

First you must sit and pass the FSA's on-line test which consists of 30 multiple choice questions. Each question has only one correct answer. You must answer a minimum of 20 questions correctly in order to pass the test.

Please click on the button below to access the test, we will contact you via email within 7 days of you completing the test to inform you of the result.

Official Veterinarian appointment test

You must re-sit and pass the test every 4 years in order to maintain your authorisation.

Alternatively, those veterinarians interested in only undertaking ante-mortem inspection outside the slaughterhouse of domestic ungulates requiring emergency slaughter, can be authorised by the FSA without the need to undertake the test above.

In this case veterinarians need to be members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and hold the Official Controls Qualification (V) OCQ(V) - ES (Essential Skills).

You need to submit documentary evidence that you comply with these two requirements before you can be authorised, to the FSA Approvals and Registration Team at approvals@food.gov.uk. We will contact you via email within 7 days of your application to inform you of the outcome.

You must renew your application for authorisation with the FSA when your OCQ(V) - ES qualification is due for revalidation. Since APHA has removed the requirement to separately revalidate the OCQ(V) - (ES) as prerequisites to other main qualifications and has the ES content incorporated into the other OCQ(V) revalidations for which they are required, documentary evidence of any other OCQ(V) revalidations must be submitted.

If you have any queries or questions please contact the FSA Approvals and Registration Team at approvals@food.gov.uk