Negative final results have been returned from Pirbright laboratory on suspect cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the North. These include a case in Ballintoy, Co Antrim, where clinical signs were found in sheep.
The North's Minister of Agriculture, Ms Brid Rodgers, welcomed the negative findings on the "hot" suspect in Ballintoy, along with "cold" suspects in Limavady, Co Derry, Martinstown, Co Antrim, and at a farm near Armagh.
"I would not want anyone out there to think that just because we have got this piece of good news we can all relax our guard," she said.
"We still have the virus circulating out there in the sheep flock and while the virus is there, there is still the danger of another outbreak in Northern Ireland."
Ms Rodgers also announced further easing of movement controls on livestock under three-week permits and strict veterinary supervision, although any movement of sheep has been prohibited.
She said the measures, which come into force today, were introduced because "difficult" welfare problems had arisen from the previous ban on livestock moving across public roads to pasture. All movements of animals outside controlled zones, except horses, must be contained within one holding or business unless they were being transferred to slaughter.
"There will be no movement of sheep and that is because the greatest danger of spreading the disease is within the sheep flock and there will be no mixing of sheep and cattle," she said.
Five categories of licence can be granted depending on the species of animal and farmers have been told to contact their vets for a risk assessment.
Sheep must not have grazed on land for 14 days for a permit to be allowed. Only one licence will be issued within any three-week period and no movement will be authorised into or out of a controlled zone or to a pig unit.
Meanwhile, completed serology tests in south Armagh have proved negative for foot-and-mouth and the controlled zone has been lifted. Results are pending on serology tests on flocks in Ardboe and north Antrim.
Ms Rodgers said contingency plans had been formulated to deal with a significant number of outbreaks simultaneously and these would be put before the Northern Ireland Executive today. "I hope we won't have to use it but it would be foolish of us not to be looking at such contingency arrangements to allow the system to cope if we did have significant numbers of outbreaks."
Commenting on the new licences, Mr Douglas Rowe, president of the Ulster Farmers' Union, said it was a move in the right direction. Farmers were under pressure to get stock moving and he was pleased common sense had prevailed.