NFU: EID plans will force sheep farmers out of sector, industry tells Hilary Benn

A delegation representing sheep farmers, livestock auctioneers and meat processors met Secretary of State Hilary Benn yesterday (Mon) and reinforced the fact that Electronic Identification and individual movement recording of sheep will drive farmers out of the industry.

Representatives from the NFU, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland, National Sheep Association, Livestock Auctioneers Association, British Meat Processors Association and Association of Independent Meat Suppliers told Mr Benn that the implementation of the EU regulation, which is due on December 31 2009, would have a significant impact on the structure of the UK sheep industry.

The delegation stressed that the current system of Sheep Identification and batch recording of sheep movements, together with movement standstills, delivered a simple, efficient and cost effective system to control the spread of animal disease.

In a joint statement they said: “The UK has nearly one third of the entire EU sheep flock – 33 million sheep – and 90,000 producers and they play a vital role in maintaining the landscape and economies of the hills and uplands of the UK.

“We told Mr Benn that the regulation as it is written will drive sheep producers out of the sector because of the high costs of implementation in relation to annual sheep farmers incomes, practical problems arising from the use of EID equipment on farms, in markets and at abattoirs, and the difficulties associated with recording the individual identities of the UK sheep flock.

“We need a practical and workable solution for the UK sheep industry and urged Mr Benn to lobby forcefully for the EU regulation to be amended to make EID and individual recording a voluntary, rather than compulsory, requirement for animals that are not involved in intra-community trade.”


Notes to editors:

For further information contact:

Alistair Mackintosh, NFU livestock board chairman – 07815 794329
Edmund Bailey, NFU Cymru – 01982 554200
James Withers, NFU Scotland – 0131 472 4001
Peter Morris, NSA – 07788 921617
Chris Dodds, LAA – 07885 731502
Norman Bagley, AIMS – 01609 761547
Phil Hambling, BMPA – 0207 329 0776

-ends-

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The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members.