Thursday, 31st July 2008
Scots Tory MEP shares Scottish farmers concerns
Dear Sir,
Farmers in Scotland are deeply concerned regarding a new consultation that has been launched by the European Commission with the intention of reviewing legislation on travelling times and stocking densities for animals under transport. I share their concern.
Animal welfare is an issue of major importance for Scotland’s agriculture industry and we have one of the best records in this respect of any country in Europe. However, it is alarming that Scotland's farmers, already reeling from soaring fuel prices and sharply rising costs are once again facing new regulations only 18 months after the introduction of the previous livestock transport legislation. Surely more time should have been allowed to assess the success of the current regulations before any further changes were advocated?
I am particularly concerned that shorter journey times would render livestock farming in parts of Scotland untenable. For example it takes 14 hours by sea to transport sheep from Shetland to Aberdeen, a regular occurrence which sustains the sheep industry on Shetland. Curtailing journey times to 8 hours would create similar problems in Orkney and many other island and remote peripheral communities in the Highlands and Islands. While I support the slaughter of livestock as close as possible to the farm where they were fattened, this is impractical in remote areas of Scotland after EU regulations caused the closure of small rural abattoirs over the past decade.
I have now written to Commissioner Andrillou Vassiliou in the Health and Consumer Affairs Directorate of the European Commission in Brussels, seeking a special derogation for livestock transportation in the Highlands and Islands and remote rural areas of Scotland, so that they may be exempted from any new rules that seek to limit journey times to 8 hours.
Yours sincerely
Struan Stevenson MEP
