- Cymraeg
- English
LIB. DEM. FOOD & FARMING SPOKESMAN BRANDS SHEEP E.I.D. SYSTEM 'UNWORKABLE'
October 6, 2008 4:46 PM
Photo, from left to right, host farmer for the visit Mr. Keri Davies, Jonathan Evans MEP, Roger Williams MP and Mr. Ed. Bailey, vice-President NFU Cymru
The Liberal Democrats' Parliamentary Spokesman on Food & Farming and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Roger Williams, has branded the proposed sheep Electronic Identification Device (EID) system as 'unworkable and impractical'.
His comments followed a recent cross-party farm visit organised by NFU Cymru to assess the practicality and impact of the introduction of sheep EIDs, a visit attended by Members of the European Parliament as well as UK-based politicians.
Commenting on the visit, Mr. Williams said:
" This very helpful farm visit confirmed that the practical barriers to the successful introduction and operation of a sheep EID system in the UK are immense. Everybody supports the idea of making sheepmeat production more traceable and improving consumer confidence in sheepmeat products. But numerous reports show that the proposed system may make sheepmeat production less traceable, not more. The system is fraught with problems, such as its dependence on the ear-tag system. All sheep farmers know how often ear tags are lost, due to them getting snagged on brambles or rubbed out in forage feeders."
" Although it is true that when sheep lose their electronic tags they can be re-tagged using the ID numbers held on their other standard ear tag, assuming it is still there, it seems that in practice re-entering the data on to a new tag is difficult and time-consuming, in part due to problems with the technology. If one adds in the considerable financial costs of introducing and operating this scheme, which DEFRA reports suggest could reduce net sheep farm income in the UK by 15% in 2010, the whole scheme becomes unacceptable on a number of fronts."
Mr. Williams is tabling an Early Day Motion in Parliament today (Mon.) to highlight the sheep EID system problem and is seeking cross-party sponsorship of the motion.
Text of EDM follows:-
Electronic Identification Devices
That this house recognises the economic and financial difficulties the sheep industry in the UK is facing; considers that sheep farming is a very important part of the social, environmental and economic fabric of rural areas of the UK; further notes that the European Commission's proposals for the introduction of Electronic Identification Devices for sheep in the UK is untimely; further more that the technology required for its successful operation is not fully developed, the equipment is costly and above all there remains insurmountable, practical animal husbandry barriers to its successful introduction and operation in the UK and other EU member states.
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