FUW brands EID a ‘tax on the EU sheep industry’

Members of two Farmers' Union of Wales committees have unanimously branded the European Commission position on electronic identification of livestock (EID) as a 'tax on the EU sheep industry'.

FUW livestock committee chairman Aeron Prysor Jones said: "The union has spent years fighting EID and has managed to delay its implementation significantly. However, the current position is that EID will be made compulsory in January 2010.

"This decision is made in spite of a recent EU report that highlights the severe plight of the sheep sector. With money being lost on every sheep, the extra cost of tagging, coupled with the extra time taken to conform with the legislation, will simply add to those losses - it's like taxing EU sheep producers while allowing other countries to import tax-free."

FUW hill farming committee chairman Derek Morgan added: "The EC's decision on this issue is completely illogical - I actually use EID on one of my flocks and the evidence from my farm, and the research from other farms in the UK, makes it clear that the only sensible approach is to allow a voluntary system. It would be completely uneconomical to use the system on my commercial hill flock."

FUW president Gareth Vaughan, who recently attended an International EID Conference in North Devon, said: "The FUW's resolve on this issue has not changed. We have fought against it for many years, have won major concessions, and are committed to continuing our fight.

"This includes making the Commission properly apply the principles of 'equivalence' to all imports into the EU - it is simply not right to make Welsh farmers pay for a costly system that has major drawbacks while allowing our competitors to import meat that has not had to comply with those standards."

NOTE TO EDITORS: At this week's Royal Welsh Show farmers and members of the general public will have the opportunity to sign a petition opposing the compulsory introduction of EID, which compliments an ongoing petition set up by FUW vice president Glyn Roberts on the Prime Minister's website. The petition can be found at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/sheepEID/

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