NFU Cymru dismay at EU position on ?unachievable? EID accuracy levels
NFU Cymru has expressed its dismay at the European Commission’s refusal to accept the need for tolerances when reading sheep Electronic Identification [EID] tags.
Since the regulation was first discussed for the electronic identification of sheep, NFU Cymru has consistently stated that it would be impossible for farmers to achieve 100 per cent accuracy 100 per cent of the time when reading and recording individual sheep movements.
The Welsh Government together with Defra and the Scottish Government have also recognised these issues and following work with the livestock industry have recently submitted a proposal to the European Commission highlighting the need for tolerance. The proposal centred around an inspection system which recognised the practical issues and ensured that farmers would not fall foul of Single Farm Payment penalties as a result of inevitable and unavoidable incomplete readings under the current system. The European Commission’s initial reaction to the paper was not positive when it was put forward during a meeting with government officials last week.
NFU Cymru President Ed Bailey said, ’It is truly incomprehensible that the Commission appears to have taken this initial view.’
He continued, ’NFU Cymru has repeatedly stressed the need for accepted tolerances to Commission officials and indeed highlighted the issues first-hand to commission officials when they visited the UK last October. Without an accepted level of error on readings farmers are faced with the prospect of receiving fines for inaccurate results which will have been no fault of their own. They are also potentially faced with a huge financial burden due to the need to invest in equipment.
’There are many reasons why it is impossible to deliver the 100 per cent accuracy required by the regulation whether that’s on farm, in markets or at abattoirs, because of the practicalities of taking readings.
’The industry worked hard to achieve a derogation which allowed the introduction of third parties to carry out electronic reads on behalf of the producer. The success of this derogation relied heavily on the acceptance of tolerance and without it farmers will now have to achieve 100 per cent accuracy every single time which, from experience, I know is impossible.
’I am extremely concerned about the impact this news could have on sheep keepers across the UK. NFU Cymru will continue working with the Welsh Government and will be seeking urgent meetings with Commission officials to ensure that the severity and implications of this position are understood.’
