According to Welsh Statutory Instrument 2026/114 on legislation.gov.uk, the Animal Health Act 1981 (Extension of Definition of Disease) (Wales) Order 2026 was made on 16 July 2026 and will come into force on 24 July 2026. The instrument applies in relation to Wales only. Its operative provision is short but specific. Article 2 states that, for the purposes of the Animal Health Act 1981, the definition of 'disease' in section 88(1) is extended to include swine vesicular disease.
In plain English, the Order does not create a separate animal health code for swine vesicular disease. It amends the statutory gateway inside the 1981 Act so that swine vesicular disease is treated as a 'disease' for the purposes of that Act in Wales. That drafting change matters because the Animal Health Act 1981 is the main legal basis for animal disease control. Once a condition is brought within the section 88 definition, the Act's disease-control provisions can be read as applying to that condition in the Welsh context.
For practitioners, the immediate effect is legal coverage rather than a new set of operational rules written into this instrument. The text does not itself set out fresh testing requirements, compensation arrangements or movement controls. What it does is place swine vesicular disease inside the statutory structure used by the 1981 Act. For rural advisers, veterinary professionals and pig sector businesses, that gives clearer legal footing from 24 July 2026. References to the Act's definition of 'disease' in relation to Wales will then include swine vesicular disease.
The explanatory note attached to the instrument confirms the same point in more direct terms, stating that the Order extends the definition of 'disease' in section 88(1) so as to include swine vesicular disease. The note is not part of the Order itself, but it is useful for decoding a very concise piece of legislation. The same note records that the Welsh Ministers' Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered. The conclusion, as stated in the instrument, was that it was not necessary to prepare a regulatory impact assessment on the likely costs and benefits of complying with the Order.
The legal power used for the change is section 88(2) of the Animal Health Act 1981. The instrument was signed on 16 July 2026 by Llyr Gruffydd, described in the text as Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability and one of the Welsh Ministers. The footnote to the Order also restates the transfer-of-functions history behind that power, referring to the 1999 and 2004 Transfer of Functions Orders and the Government of Wales Act 2006. In practice, that confirms the Welsh Ministers' authority to make this type of animal health provision for Wales.
For legal teams, compliance advisers and businesses with Welsh operations, the date to track is 24 July 2026. From that day, the statutory definition of 'disease' for the purposes of the Animal Health Act 1981 in Wales will be wider than it was before this Order was made. The amendment is narrow in form but important in effect. A single named disease is added to the Act's Welsh legal coverage, giving ministers and enforcement bodies a clearer statutory basis wherever the 1981 Act depends on that definition.