Rooker told cost-sharing is unacceptable until action on TB is taken

FOOD and Farming Minister Jeff Rooker has been told farmers cannot accept Defra plans to charge farmers for animal disease control until proper action is taken to curb bovine TB.

The bTB issue was one of three 'red lines' the NFU said must not be crossed, if the industry is to co-operate with the Government's cost and responsibility sharing plans.

NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond said this was the 'worst possible time to be talking about making farmers pay for what most would regard as the Government's responsibility'.

Speaking at a Defra seminar on the proposals in London attended by Lord Rooker, Mr Raymond said the industry's confidence in the Government's intentions was 'at as low an ebb as livestock farming incomes'.

"We have three red lines that must be protected before we can even think of talking seriously about cost and responsibility sharing," Mr Raymond said.

"The first is a bankable assurance that any sharing of costs will be matched by an equivalent sharing of influence over how the money is spent.

"The second is a thorough review of Defra's animal disease budget, so that we can be quite sure we are not being asked to contribute towards costs that should never have been incurred in the first place

"The third is concerted action to deal with every aspect of the nightmare which is bovine TB."