Farming Minister David Heath today launched a new 'risk-based trading scheme' which would see farmers disclosing information on their herd's TB history to potential buyers.

The scheme will cover farmers in England and is currently strictly voluntary. Mr Heath said the intention is to make it easier for cattle buyers to assess the risks of bringing the disease into their herds when purchasing new animals.

He continued that it would have the added benefit of allowing farmers in one year testing areas with no history of the disease to demonstrate this, potentially faring better in trading as a result. The move is especially relevant given the extension of one year testing to new counties this year.

The NFU welcomed the government scheme on Thursday. Union Vice President Adam Quinney said, "There is wide agreement there needs to be many approaches to tackling TB, one of which is better information for farmers when they are trading livestock. The key to unlocking this challenge is to empower farmers through better TB information at the point of sale."

The voluntary measures were set out by Defra's risk-based trading group (a government-industry task force convened by the department last year); Mr Quinney said that the process of developing the new scheme "included broad representation from the livestock and dairy sectors."

Ultimately the group is pushing for the development of a comprehensive database to link both animal health and cattle movement data. NFU executive Quinney added "Other countries have shown how truly effective industry databases can help the farming industry control and eradicate disease."

In the short-term the group recommended that animals are presented at the point of sale with the animals' TB test date, the date of the last herd test, the date of the last routine herd test, and the length of time the herd has been officially TB free. Farmers will also be encouraged to look at the benefits of post-movement testing, with recommendations from the report for a post-movement test when this is considered appropriate.

The report also recommends that a comprehensive awareness campaign accompanies the introduction of any of the measures.