UK secures vital extension on electronic tagging of sheep
Posted, December 08, 2011 @ 14:00
Richard Ashworth MEP, Conservative Agriculture Spokesman in the European Parliament has hailed a move to delay the implementation of individual identification requirements for sheep as vitally important for the future of the sheep sector in the UK and a diplomatic success for the UK.
Late last night the European Commission's Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) approved a proposal put forward by DEFRA to delay the requirement for individual movement recording of the "historic flock" for three years meaning that farmers will not have to report the individual movements of sheep born before the 31st December 2009 until the start of 2015. The ruling means that many farmers will be able to delay electronically tagging the historic flock and could save farmers £11 million.
The decision comes after many years of lobbying by Conservative MEPs against the electronic tagging and individual identification of sheep.
Richard Ashworth said: "This is great news for the sheep sector and comes after years of lobbying on this issue by Conservative MEPS"
"We have always maintained that the current timeframe for introducing individual recording was too tight for the historic flock. The UK has the largest sheep flock in Europe and will benefit greatly from being able to continue using the batch system."
"We still have concerns about sheep EID, particularly with regards to cross compliance rules, but this decision is a first step to ensuring that the regulations on sheep identification are better suited to the specificities of the sheep sector in the UK."