UK secures vital extension on electronic tagging of sheep
Posted,12/8/2011 2:00:00 PM
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."
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Wasted opportunity of disappointing CAP reforms
Posted,10/12/2011 1:00:00 PM
Conservative MEPs have condemned much-heralded proposals for reforming the European Union's controversial Common Agriculture Policy as one massive wasted opportunity. The proposals, were being presented today (Weds) by Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos as a wholesale overhaul and modernisation of CAP. But Richard Ashworth, Conservative Agriculture spokesman in the European Parliament, dismissed them as backward step which failed to address the policy's worst faults. He said: "This doesn't take the CAP forward or do anything to tackle the real issues - about how we address food security concerns and grow more food using fewer resources." He said the last two reviews of CAP had taken a very clear direction towards creating a viable and globally-competitive food industry. But there was no sense in Mr Ciolos's proposals that this direction would be continued. Proposals to cap payments for large farms and to reclassificy less favoured areas (LFAs) were unwelcome, he said, and would not reduce bureaucracy or help farmers feed a growing population "It seems no thought has been given to making farmers successful instead of subsidising their failure," he said. "We should be working to create a stand-alone industry that can be weaned off subsidies. We should be freeing farmers from red tape so that they can react quickly to market forces. Instead of tying them up in green tape and making it harder for them to produce food, we need to let farmers get on with farming. "The measures intended to promote the enviroment are just bureaucratic. They will further complicate the CAP but fail to help the environment." Insisting there should be no return to the practice of set aside, which gives grant to farmers who leave fields unplanted to grow wild, he said: "At a time of high food prices it is madness to force farmers to leave part of their land uncultivated just in order to get a payment. "These uninspiring proposals are a bitter disappointment, considering the golden opportunity that the Commission had to reshape CAP and let our farmers benefit from the global market. It is a massive waste of that opportunity."
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Urgent action needed to stop battery hen cheats
Posted,9/2/2011 9:00:00 AM
Conservative MEPs, who have repeatedly warned about the dangers of unfair competition for British egg farmers, welcomed today's British parliamentary committee report on the EU's Welfare of Laying Hens Directive. New EU rules, which come into force on January 1, are designed to improve conditions for battery hens. But the report warns that about a third of Europe’s egg production will not comply with the new welfare standards by then. Richard Ashworth, MEP for South East England and Conservative spokesman on agriculture and rural affairs, said: "British farmers shouldn't have to face unfair competition from non-compliant member states which have had 12 years notice to get their house in order. "British farmers have done the right thing and banished battery cages. Now the EU must not let other countries dodge their responsibilities. Otherwise they will gain a grossly unfair commercial advantage by flouting the new welfare rules." Robert Sturdy, Conservative MEP for East Anglia and himself a farmer, has previously highlighted rumours in the industry of defunct British battery cages being bought up by famers in Eastern Europe to be used in defiance of the directive. He said: "While the UK egg industry has followed European rules banning battery cages, other countries in Europe have been dragging their feet for years.
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Madness of scheme to spend millions on homeopathy for beasts
Posted,8/30/2011 6:00:00 PM
Conservative MEPs have condemned as "sheer madness" a proposal to spend a staggering €2 million on research into homeopathic medicines for farm animals. Proposed funding for the costly pilot research project was approved today in an amendement to the EU's draft budget approved by the Euopean Parliament's Agriculture Committee. The extra spending was backed by Socialists, Liberals and Christian Democrats on the committee. But Richard Ashworth, Conservative MEP for the South East and spokesman on agriculture and rural affairs, labelled the scheme outrageous and an insult to taxpayers. He said: "Spending such a huge sum of public money on something so marginal and left-field would be bad at the best of times. "When we are in the middle of an economic crisis, when governments everywhere are taking severe austerity measures just to balance the books, to waste millions on highly questionable new-age remedies for cows and sheep is sheer madness." Most vets are highly sceptical about the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies for livestock and earlier this year the British Veterinary Association issued a warning against them. It said: "The BVA cannot endorse the use of homeopathic medicines, or indeed any medicine making therapeutic claims, which have no proven efficacy. As with any medicine, BVA believes that veterinary medicinal products must be evidence-based, with any medicinal claims made by a manufacturer supported."
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EU budget: MEPs set themselves on collision course with national governments
Posted,6/8/2011 12:00:00 AM
Strasbourg, 8th June 2011 -- 'Totally unacceptable' proposals adopted by the European Parliament today - which will see the next long-term EU budget increased by five percent, rebates scrapped and EU direct taxes - have put MEPs on a collision course with national governments, Richard Ashworth MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists group spokesman said today.
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