Sheep tags cost will hit farmers

All the main political parties have criticised the scheme

Plans to give Wales's nine million sheep compulsory electronic tags will have a "devastating impact" on the farming industry, Tory AMs have warned.

Conservative rural affairs spokesman Brynle Williams said the systems were expensive with technical shortcomings.

Ministers said they "regretted" the schemes' introduction and were making "representation" to Brussels on them.

The European Commission (EC) argues the proposals are the best way of allowing "individual traceability" of animals.

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

Nearly half of Welsh farms keep sheep.

In 2007, the EU Council of Ministers, which includes the UK Government, agreed on a regulation to introduce compulsory electronic tagging to sheep and goats.

Its introduction was initially postponed and eventually set for 31 December 2009, to give all EU countries extra time to prepare.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has warned that the electronic readers involved are often compromised by working conditions.

It has estimated it will cost farmers up to 40% of their incomes to introduce the technology without any improvements to food safety or disease control.

'Red tape'

Leading an assembly debate on the proposals on Wednesday, Mr Williams warned in a motion they would badly damage Welsh agriculture at a time when it had a "valuable role...to play in battling the economic downturn".

He argued "the current system of sheep tagging provides full and robust traceability" and yet all current electronic systems had "considerable technical shortcomings and disproportionate costs".

Mr Williams called on the Welsh Assembly Government to "postpone the introduction of compulsory electronic identification until it is cost-effective and 100% reliable under field conditions".

Liberal Democrats backed the criticisms, warning the proposals would also increase "red tape" in the industry.

Party rural affairs spokesman Mick Bates predicted: "The introduction of this regulation will lead to a decline in the Welsh sheep flock.

"This at the time of an economic downturn when it is crucial that we give as much support to our national industries as possible and do not allow red tape regulations to further damage the agricultural industry in Wales."

Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones assured AMs her officials would be "making it clear" that there were practical difficulties with introducing electronic tagging when they met EC officials who were visiting Wales next week.

She said she was "looking for opportunities to change the requirements".

"But I must be realistic as well - and I'll continue with the work programme of introducing these regulations," Ms Jones said.

And she said the situation was more complex than the Conservatives indicated, and rejected the claims of extra red tape.

The minister said a "small but increasing number of farmers in Wales see the advantages that electronic tagging could offer their business" because of the information it could provide.

Ms Jones said the new tags would allow "swifter decisions in a time of crisis" such as a foot and mouth outbreak.

She advised AMs that the UK had lost its exemption from the European directive requiring electronic schemes to be introduced after "failing three inspection visits by European officials on compliance with the (current) tagging system".

"The UK Government could face legal proceedings if the directive is not implemented", she warned.

"The Welsh Assembly Government....could also lose money...if it fails to implement the directive and it is payments to farmers that will ultimately suffer," Ms Jones added.