The industry has come together to agree a proposal to rid lamb producers of a cumbersome and costly implementation of EU regulations.
More than 30 representatives of the sheep sector and UK governments met after a call from the NFU and the National Sheep Association.
The organisations have been pushing for reform of the EU rules on TSEs and carcase splitting, and while undoing layers of red tape laid down by Europe is a slow process, both believe more immediate gains can be made by changing the UK implementation of the rules.
Changes would see a switch from ‘mouthing’ of sheep to determine age to a calendar date of June 30, which is already used for sheep identification purposes.
Charles Sercombe, NFU Livestock Board Chairman, said: “Carcase splitting costs our industry a huge amount of money, not just through devaluing the carcase but also time spent mouthing sheep in markets and abattoirs. It causes a great deal of uncertainty for farmers, auctioneers, processors and retailers. While we strongly believe the practice of splitting carcases is not necessary at all, an immediate improvement could be made by revisiting the way we decide whether carcases are split.”
Phil Stocker, NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker said: “It is impossible to record individual birth dates for all lambs born, so this calendar date provides a clear cut-off that farmers can work to. Using this same calendar date for deciding when carcases are split will remove a great deal of confusion from the food chain.”
Current European regulation on TSEs requires spinal cord to be removed from sheep of more than 12 months of age or which have one permanent incisor erupted through the gum.
UK domestic regulation, which is an interpretation of the larger EU ruling, requires carcases to be split for the removal of spinal cord and currently uses the mouthing of sheep as the mechanism to determine which carcases need to be split.
The Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, British Meat Processors Association, Eblex, Farmers Union of Wales, Hybu Cig Cymru, Livestock Auctioneers Association, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland, Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, Sheep Veterinary Society and Ulster Farmers Union all joined NFU and NSA in supporting the proposal.
Officials from Defra, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and DARD in Northern Ireland, as well as the Food Standards Agency in all four nations, also welcomed the sheep industry’s initiative.
