EID relief fund an acknowledgement of scheme's failings say Lib Dems

Ceredigion’s Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams has welcomed the news that a £110 million emergency fund may be introduced by the EU to help farmers who struggle to electronically tag their sheep, but warned that the plans merely highlighted the difficulties that will be in place for many farmers.

The European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee have approved an amendment to the European Commission’s EID regulations which would allow for the fund to be set up. The fund will now need to be approved by the full European Parliament.

In April, the EU’s joint research centre put the cost of the UK implementing electronic identification of sheep at more than £65 million.

Commenting, Mark Williams said:

"Anything that reduces the burden of EID on our farmers is welcome, but it seems likely that many will still have to meet the costs of implementation themselves.

"The cross-party work that has been done by UK and Irish MEPs has been extremely important in highlighting these issues and I am pleased that they have managed to have some success in reducing the burden.

"However, given the large costs of implementation it remains to see how far this fund will stretch. The cost of implementation in the UK has been estimated at more than £65 million alone, and it remains to be seen how much of this money will reach Welsh farmers.

"Ultimately a voluntary approach would be a much more sensible approach, and I would hope that now MEPs have illustrated the costs, the Commission will reconsider the possibility of voluntary implementation, even at this late stage."