Friday, 29th January 2010
The Scottish Government must dig deeper to fund cost of EID
Dear Sir,
The Scottish Government’s pledge to offer £1million of support to Scottish farmers to cover the additional costs of buying electronic tags and specialist equipment to comply with the unnecessary and unwelcome sheep-tag regulations from Brussels is welcome and will go some way towards meeting the financial burden.
However, the Scottish Government’s lack of financial commitment on central database costs and its announcement that sheep farmers will be forced to implement full electronic tagging to sheep under 12 months going direct to slaughter, comes as a financial blow to an industry already struggling to survive.
The cost to the industry of tracking every animal in Scotland will run into millions, which, is a burden the struggling sheep sector simply cannot withstand in the current climate. Other EU Member State governments are giving financial assistance to their sheep farmers to help them meet these costs. This places our farmers at a competitive disadvantage.
The Scottish government must dig deeper.
Yours faithfully,
Struan Stevenson
