19/07/06
The European Commission has renewed the UK farming industry’s
crucial derogation from sheep identification requirements. This
decision follows months of negotiations involving NFU Scotland,
the Scottish Executive, Defra and the European Commission.
The EU Regulation, first published in December 2002, would have
required Scottish farmers to record, with pen and paper, the individual
identification numbers of all sheep, every time they move. It would
also have required all sheep to be double-tagged at an estimated
cost of £20 million a year.
NFUS, together with the Scottish Executive, has worked to convince
Brussels officials that the current Scottish system, which requires
batches of sheep to be recorded rather than individual identification
numbers, is effective in delivering all the disease traceability
assurances demanded by Europe. As a result of this work and a successful
inspection by Brussels officials, the UK was granted a temporary
derogation in July 2005. This has now been renewed for a further
year following another successful inspection.
Reacting to the announcement, NFUS Vice President Bob Howat said:
“I am pleased that we have again managed to secure a derogation
from the European sheep tagging requirements, although the welcome
is tempered somewhat by the news that it is only a one-year derogation
again.
“Frustratingly, further changes to our identification system
had to be agreed to convince the European Commission that our sheep
ID system offers the same level of traceability as those operating
elsewhere in Europe. These changes relate to the tagging of sheep
for export and the replacement of lost tags within 28 days. I understand
the Executive will be writing to all sheep keepers shortly to explain
the changes.
“The full EU requirements are fine in theory and they may
work for some smaller sheep producing nations, but they are simply
unworkable in the UK. We are the biggest sheep producing country
in Europe with over a quarter of all sheep and we have by far the
biggest average flock sizes. Our stratified system of sheep production
is unique because of our climate and terrain and the European policy
makers must take this into account in future when devising new
rules.”
“We agree entirely with the Commission that there should
be a robust system of traceability and identification and we are
convinced out identification system delivers exactly that.”
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