News
McArthur welcomes the opportunity to block plans for compulsory sheep EID
20/03/2009 10:23:00
Following news that the Hungarian Government has tabled a proposal to be put to the European Council of Agricultural ministers next week, which calls for the abandonment of the proposal for compulsory electronic identification (EID) of sheep, Orkney MSP, Liam McArthur has written to Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs & the Environment, supporting the move. He has sought assurances that 'working with the UK Government, the Scottish Government will get fully behind the proposal and will work hard to help the Hungarian Government to build majority support for their proposal'.
Liam McArthur reminded the minister that the European Commission's
proposal for compulsory EID for sheep, would be, 'at best,
prohibitively expensive to introduce and, for most Scottish sheep
farmers, would be completely impracticable,' and he reminded him that,
through the lobbying of NFU Scotland and the Scottish Crofting
Foundation he would be 'well aware of the worrying implications of the
EID proposal'.
He told the minister: "The news of the Hungarian proposal is therefore
very welcome. I seek your assurance that the opportunity it provides
for the Scottish Government, to help to bring to an end the
ill-considered proposals for EID for sheep, will not be let slip by."
Commenting, Liam McArthur said: "Time is short. EU ministers meet next
week, so the Scottish Government must work hard with the UK Government
over the coming days to help build support across the EU for the
Hungarian's welcome proposal.
"As the NFU and others have made clear, the system of electronic ID
being proposed would have serious consequences for Scottish sheep
farming. At a time when the loss of livestock from our hills and
islands is causing such concern, additional burdens of this sort are
more than unwelcome. They have the potential for making a bad situation
even worse. That is why it is so important that Scottish Ministers do
not miss this opportunity to force a rethink."