Farmers’ organisations in the UK have said they will back MEPs attempting to change EU regulations on sheep IED ahead of an EU vote which should be going ahead later this year. The regulations will change as part of the wider reforms of the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

NFU, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland and the Ulster Farmers Union claim to have put their “full backing” behind MEPS calling for “an element of tolerance” in reformed EID rules; lobbying by the groups has resulted in a number of UK MEPs tabling amendments to that CAP reforms governing EID.  

Union lobbyists and the, mostly Conservative, MEPs have argued that 100 per cent accuracy on EID is often not possible and that new regulations need to reflect this. The proposed new rules, in their current state, are intended to maximise traceability and contribute towards disease control, an area many experts have said will become even more important as climate change progresses, bringing with it the possibility that new diseases will spread or appear in Europe.  

However, Peter Garbutt, NFU’s chief livestock adviser said, “Right from the outset the NFU has lobbied to make the rules on sheep EID fair and workable. It’s clear that we need a practical system of traceability and disease control but that the current regulation is not delivering this. It instead gives farmers a set of complex rules and regulations that often fall down because of technology failures that are nothing to do with the farmer.

“We have worked tirelessly to get this message across to policy makers in Brussels and so it is good to see the response from UK MEPs. We will continue to work closely with the MEPs to make sure their amendments get the full backing from the European Parliament when it comes to a vote.”

The European Parliament Agriculture Committee is expected to vote on the amendments this autumn. After the Agriculture Committee vote, another taken by all MEPs may follow, either towards the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013.

Tweet