MSPs attack electronic sheep tags

MSPs will debate the tagging scheme at Holyrood

Politicians from Holyrood's main parties have called for Scotland to be able to exempt itself from a compulsory scheme to electronically tag sheep.

The European Commission agreed the scheme as the best way of tracing animals and stopping the spread of disease, such as foot-and-mouth.

Scottish farmers warned it would lead to accelerated decline in the industry.

A Lib Dem motion expressing concern about the scheme has been backed by SNP, Labour and Tory MSPs.

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur will lead a backbench debate on the issue at the Scottish Parliament.

The EU Council of Ministers - which includes the UK Government - agreed in 2007 to introduce compulsory electronic tagging to sheep and goats.

We accept the need for improved traceability and have been working with the EU to secure flexibility for our livestock sector Scottish Government spokesman

The scheme, due to come into force at the end of this year, uses tags costing up to £1.50 each to improve the tracking of animals from farms to where they end up in food production.

But the National Farmers Union Scotland has warned the electronic readers involved would in many cases be compromised by working conditions - especially in Scotland, where sheep are regularly sent out on to rocky or hilly terrain, often for months at a time.

Mr McArthur claimed there was also growing unease over the cost of the scheme and said a derogation from compulsory tagging would be in the best interests of Scotland's sheep farmers, if a government pilot of the scheme failed to deal with the concerns.

Mr McArthur's motion has been backed by a cross-party group of MSPs, including Ted Brocklebank of the Tories, SNP politician Kenny Gibson and Labour's Peter Peacock.

The Scottish Government, which invested £3m in the research pilot, is currently in talks with the Commission - which has already rejected derogation requests from several other countries - on the way forward.

"We accept the need for improved traceability and have been working with the EU to secure flexibility for our livestock sector," said a government spokesman.

The European Union first introduced a system of compulsory tagging in 2004, three years after the foot-and-mouth epidemic in Britain.