EC to meet Scottish delegation on EID
A delegation of representatives from the Scottish farming sector will be meeting senior officials at the European Commission to discuss the controversial Electronic Identification Database for sheep. A proposal under discussion could see sheep only being tagged upon leaving the farm. The delegation will include representatives of the National Sheep Association Scotland and NFU Scotland.
Commenting, George Lyon MEP (also part of the delegation) said “The NFUS proposal to allow farmers to tag sheep only when they leave the farm is the only sensible solution to the problems that have plagued EID. The Commissioner has opened the door very slightly and we must take the opportunity to hammer home the need for greater flexibility to ensure EID will work at a practical farm level. We will also explore alternative courses of action with MEPs which will include removing part of the EID regulation from the new rules on cross compliance in the CAP reforms. This is a serious alternative as it would open up the opportunity of removing the threat of penalties on farmers for being less than 100 per cent accurate in their on farm sheep register.”
Also commenting, President of the NFUS Nigel Miler added that “Both the 2010 and 2011 statistics on sheep electronic tag read rates in Scotland, expose the limitations of both the technology and the tags. There is also real evidence, that even with compromised read rates on electronic tags, our system delivers excellent traceability and meets all necessary requirements in terms of food safety and disease control.”
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
