Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and also works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government[1].
Historical Context
The agency was launched on 1 October 2014. It merged the former Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) with parts of the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) responsible for plant and bee health to create a single agency responsible for animal, plant and bee health[1].
The AHVLA had originally been established on 1 April 2011 by a merger of two former agencies, Animal Health and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency.
Relevance to Waste
The APHA is one of the regulatory authorities which oversees and regulates Biogas/Anaerobic Digestion facilites or Composting facilities that receive Animal By-product Material for processing (the other key regulator being the EA in England, SEPA in Scotland, and NRW in Wales).
The application process and guidance is set out in the .gov website[2]
