UK fails to win support for key changes to EID rules

The plans, which were discussed at the EU Agriculture Council meeting in Luxembourg over the past two days, would have seen farmers exempt from having to use electronic tags until their sheep left the holding of their birth.

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The proposal was presented by new farming Minister Jim Fitzpatrick, with the hope of gaining sufficient support from other member states to push the plans through.

In his submission to the Council, he said EID remained ‘a concern for the competitiveness and sustainability of the UK’s sheep industry’ as he called for further discussions on possible changes.

It said: “If the requirement to apply individual identifiers was deferred until an animal leaves the holding of birth this would allow them to be applied sequentially at the time of departure, thus reducing the individual recording burden.

“This option would also significantly reduce the cost of having to replace lost tags.”

Despite support from member states including Ireland, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia, the amendment was not accepted by the lead Commissioner, Androulla Vassiliou.

NFU Scotland president Jim Mclaren said the result was a 'setback' but assured farmers the fight would go on to make changes to the regulations before they come into force on January 1 next year.

He said: “These regulations, if unchecked, will bring a move to electronic tagging and the need to record the movement of every individual sheep. That is an unacceptable level of cost and bureaucracy for no real benefit and we owe it to our members to fight these proposals tooth and nail.”

One area where there is still hope for changes is in the EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health which is set to discuss the issue at its next meeting on July 30.

In particular, it will discuss a proposal to amend the rules to allow electronic tags to be read at central control points such as markets and abattoirs.

In the latest Council meeting, Mr Fitzpatrick welcomed the changes being discussed at SCoFCAH saying they would bring ‘significant savings’ to sheep farmers.