By unlocking the export potential China offers the pig industry, not to mention the red meat sector as a whole, we could gain entry into a marketplace which comprises a fifth of the world’s population.NFU calls for outright ban on chinese lanterns
THE NFU Council has called for an outright ban on flying Chinese lanterns due to concerns about the risks they pose to animal welfare, food safety and the environment.
The union has received numerous reports from members of harm to livestock, and in some instances death, caused by cattle ingesting the metal wires contained within the lantern frames.
The lanterns can also be ingested if they are chopped up during silage and hay making, while the wire can get tangled around animals’ feet or become embedded in skin.
NFU council members were also concerned that combines could pick up lanterns in standing crops during the imminent and at the ‘serious fire risks’ they pose during dry spells, as being experienced now.
The NFU had previously called for a voluntary ban on lanterns that use wire in their construction but having reviewed the evidence of their impacts and ‘remedial moves by manufacturers to date’, council members said the NFU should lobby the Government for a complete ban. Bans are already in place in Germany and Australia.
The NFU will also enter into discussions with the Environment Agency about the lanterns’ status as trade waste in an effort to reduce the release of lanterns by hotels and wedding venues.
NFU acting director of communications Terry Jones said: “We have given manufacturers, as well as suppliers, time to take on board our concerns over the sale of these lanterns and move to a safer and more environmentally friendly solution.
“While we have seen some movement by manufacturers and suppliers to biodegradable eco-lanterns, council members felt that the moves were too little, too late.
“The overwhelming majority of Council members felt that the UK should follow the example set by other countries and ban them outright, thereby ending any possible future harm to livestock, wildlife and the environment.”
Chinese lanterns, sometimes known as Sky lanterns, are commonly used at weddings, birthdays and religious ceremonies and can reach a height of 1,200ft. They consist of a fire-resistant paper canopy, attached to a wire or bamboo frame and a fuel cell to help them become airborne.
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Readers' comments (7)
Anonymous | 30 June 2010 1:58 pm
pointles useless things .get rid of them
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Anonymous | 1 July 2010 1:16 pm
we`ve had problems both with livestock, and wire in hay. Helium ballons are another big hazard here, close to town
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keith turner | 1 July 2010 2:52 pm
you can get wire free ones - we bought a load online (www.eco-sky-lanterns.co.uk) - they are also biodegradable and totally wire free
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Jason Wiggins | 1 July 2010 5:18 pm
I didn't realise these lanterns caused so much trouble. I'll stop using them and encourage others to do so. The paper free and biodegradable ones seem a much better option.
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Lewis Sellers | 5 July 2010 5:44 pm
Hi There,
We are an online retailer of Sky Lanterns and we've worked very hard to try and develop a Lantern to help ease the concerns that the NFU have.
We contacted the NFU in February 2010 to try and resolve some of the concerns they had about lanterns, we received an email back the following month saying that someone would be in contact with us to 'welcome constructive discussions', we then didn't hear back from the NFU until last month (4 months later!).
We had a long chat with a member of the NFU. We thought we had made progress during the conference call only to be told the following day that the NFU had decided on an outright ban.
I find it absolutely disgraceful that retailers were not even contacted prior to this decision. We have tried very hard to improve our product and sell completely wire free lanterns that are perfectly safe.
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Anonymous | 20 October 2010 8:54 pm
The lanterns are lovely. We should ban the farms ;)
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Tony Davies | 1 January 2011 3:00 pm
Lets ban ALL farm sudsidies, tractors spreading mud on roads and causing traffic delays and all cows that let their wind off into the atmosphere
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