Green pressure grows for cow flatulence tax

Published on Monday 23 March 2009 18:22

THE UK government and the devolved administrations must avoid the temptation to introduce a "flatulence tax" on cows and other farm livestock, according to Struan Stevenson, a Scottish Conservative MEP who takes a keen interest in farming and rural affairs. The very notion may seem decidedly obtuse to practical farmers, but it is under consideration in both the Irish Republic and Denmark.

Stevenson said: "According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), livestock are responsible for around 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions around the world. A cow can emit up to four tonnes of methane each year in burps and flatulence, compared to 2.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide from an average car.

"This has led environmental fundamentalists in Ireland and Denmark to demand a flatulence tax as a means of combating global warming and avoiding stiff penalties from the European Commission under the EU's emissions trading scheme."

It has been suggested that there should be a tax of as much as 75 on each and every cow. However, there is considerable scientific research being conducted – some of which is based in Scotland – aimed at reducing emissions both through genetics and improved feeding regimes. The odds are that there will be no levy on the livestock industry in the immediate future, but Stevenson remains concerned.

He said: "Any tax would be a catastrophic mistake. Green taxes like these would kill off our dairy and beef industries and hand a gift to our direct competitors in Latin America and other countries outside the EU. At a time when less and less British food is being sold in our supermarkets, this would be the final straw."

Stevenson has repeatedly argued that far more attention should be devoted to "food miles". The UK is now less than 70 per cent self-sufficient in food and is increasingly reliant on imports from a wide range of countries. It would make much more sense, he contends, to increase domestic production than depend on supplies from countries where production standards fall below what is permissible within Europe.