United Kingdom-Call for the end of sheep carcass splitting.

A S many of the remaining lambs from the 2008 crop move closer towards being 12 months old, farmers are once again finding they have sheep being devalued due to their having erupted their first permanent incisor tooth.

The eruption of this tooth is the accepted means by which a sheep is deemed to be 12 months old – and as such they become subject to TSE-related controls on spinal cord removal.

In the UK the only means by which the Food Standards Agency will currently accept spinal cord removal being undertaken is by the carcass being split into two, which often results in it being hugely devalued to the farmer.

Farmers, along with many livestock markets and abattoirs, all feel the human health-related issues which first resulted in this regulation being introduced are now only of limited relevance, as any suggested theoretical link between TSE (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) in sheep and human health issues has never been shown to exist outside of the laboratory.

There is a strong belief a more proportionate regulatory regime should be implemented – and at the very least the industry should be allowed to remove spinal cord by other means like suction, which is already permitted in other EU countries such as France. properly applied suction technique would achieve almost identical levels of cord removal and would have the enormous benefit of not devaluing the carcass, said the National Sheep Association’s chief executive Peter Morris, who farms near Cullompton.

He said: "I think it is true to say all parts of the lamb supply chain, from the farm through the markets to the abattoir, genuinely believe that the degree of control placed on spinal-cord removal in sheep is disproportionate to any perceived theoretical risk that might exist.

"We have all lobbied for several years to have more flexibility in these rules, but up to now the Food Standards Agency has not been minded to take action. We all welcome the fact that FSA officials have now actually been to the continent to see suction removal of spinal cord in operation and we are hopeful that as a result of this they might be prepared to accept that this technique when properly undertaken is fit for purpose and should be acceptable in the UK. We all believe it deals more than adequately with any perceived risk that there might be in relation to spinal cord in sheep.

"From the farming viewpoint there is considerable unhappiness about the financial implications of carcass splitting and while this is a major consideration for us, we accept that the FSA will be driven in their decision making by being satisfied any perceived risk to human health from spinal cord removal by suction is negated. Through the chain there is now a belief we have reached the point in time where things can be changed without increasing any risk."

The NFU is joining in the call for alternative means of spinal cord removal, and a delegation of senior members is meeting representatives from the FSA and processors tomorrow to discuss the financial and practical implications of the current TSE regulations.

The meeting will be chaired by Malcolm Corbett, vice chairman of the NFU’s national livestock board, and is aimed at providing an opportunity for a frank and open discussion on how the regulation has affected producers and what changes can be made to the current practice of splitting the carcass to remove the spinal cord.

Mr Corbett said: "The devaluation of lambs due to the way the TSE rules are policed in UK abattoirs has gone on for too long, and a solution has to be found as soon as possible.

"There is compelling EU scientific evidence that lamb meat poses negligible risk to the human food chain and therefore the EU rules with regard to sheep age detection and the British TSE controls need to be changed. Splitting the carcass is not the answer and a new one has to be found. This meeting is an ideal opportunity to gain a solution to the problem once and for all."

Splitting carcasses can devalue the product by up to 80 per cent, he said.