NFU Cymru seeking to relax sheep ID rules and safeguard beef markets
NFU Cymru Members in Montgomeryshire have welcomed the Union's attempts to persuade the Welsh Assembly Government to change the definition of a holding so as to move to more practical identification and movement rulings for sheep.
NFU County Chairman, Michael Jones said, "NFU Cymru has already had several informal discussions with the Assembly's Chief Veterinary Officer who has acknowledged that the changes introduced last autumn were rushed and overly complicated. The Union is now participating in a series of meetings with the Assembly to pursue our ideas on a more formal basis."
"There are a number of options to explore with the Assembly but clearly NFU Cymru's favoured option for change is to persuade the Chief Veterinary Officer of the need and clear practical benefits of amending the definition of a holding so that a single epidemiological unit includes all the land farmed by an individual business. This will clearly make sheep identification and movement rules simpler, easier to understand and to administer whilst also meeting European Commission requirements in terms of identification and movement recording." added Michael Jones.
Edward Chapman of Llanidloes, the representative from Montgomeryshire to the NFU Council took the opportunity of reminding producers of recent changes following the relaxation of the Over Thirty Month (OTM) rule last November saying, "Producers must remember that the OTM Scheme, open to all OTM animals, has now closed as of the 20th January and has been replaced on the 23rd January by the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme (OCDS), which will only accept bovines born pre-August 1996."
"With beef exports not expected to resume until the end of April at the earliest, the NFU has been working to ensure that DEFRA and particularly the European Commission appreciate the potential implications of these changes and that they have measures in place that can be implemented quickly, should market conditions come under pressure."
