Sheep farmers urged to join tag campaign

Published on Thursday 13 March 2008 20:13

FARMERS are being urged to resist proposals from Brussels which would involve the double tagging of every sheep in the land and then move on to individual electronic identification (EID). NFU Scotland has joined forces with the Scottish Farmer in a concerted effort to thwart this move which has the potential to cost the sheep sector well in excess of £10 million each year.

An electronic petition is being organised and the hope is that all sheep farmers will log on at www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/sheeptaggingpetition to lodge their protest.

Nigel Miller, vice-president of NFUS, said: "This is a chance for Scotland's sheep industry to stand up and be counted and send a resounding message to Brussels to think again. Translating proposals dreamed up in an office in Brussels into rules that are sensible on the ground is never easy and the current ideas would simply be unworkable in Scotland's extensive sheep industry.

"We have the current nightmare of double tagging and the threat on the horizon of individual recording and being forced to accept an EID system which might not be fit for purpose. Batch movement of sheep is the cornerstone upon which the Scottish sheep sector is built. Such a large and highly stratified industry needs to be able to move many thousands of sheep in as simple and practical method as possible. This proposal has the potential to destroy our sheep industry – it's just not feasible."

Scotland can count on considerable support in its opposition, not least from the Irish Farmers' Association.

Henry Burns, the chairman of the IFA sheep committee, said: "It is ridiculous in the extreme that the EU should attempt to impose a high-cost complex system on farmers while at the same time allowing 14 million lambs from New Zealand on to the EU market with no traceability whatsoever. This is the height of double standards."

Burns argues that, with the sheep sector in decline in Ireland and throughout much of the EU, far more consideration should be given to ways of promoting production as opposed to saddling farmers with unnecessary costs.

Mariann Fischer Boel, the EU commissioner for agriculture, is due to visit Scotland In early July. This issue will be close to the top of the list of topics she will be required to address.