Graham condemns EC on sheep EID regulations  

18^th May 2011 

Responding to the news that the European Commission has rejected British farmers’ arguments for tolerance when reading sheep EID tags, William Graham AM said: 

‘The European Commission’s lack of flexibility on implementing EU regulations on electronic sheep tags is just the sort of heavy-handed and ill-considered plan that strengthens the impression that the EU are more concerned with bureaucracy than practical results.’ 

The Conservative AM for South Wales East continued: 

‘Improving lamb prices have buoyed the confidence of sheep farmers in Wales after some tough years, and it is disappointing that that Brussels fails to understand the negative consequences of their one-way approach to policy making. Welsh farmers’ legitimate concerns that the technology to be used will not be 100% reliable and concerns about the regulations’ impact on farm inspections appear to have been ignored.’ 

‘British lamb is reared to the highest welfare standards in the world and as the owner of a small flock of Suffolk sheep (T55) I can attest to the exhaustive nature of the records that UK sheep farmers already need to maintain. I urge the Welsh Government to condemn the European Commission’s stance on the regulations and work with farming leaders to communicate the harm that they will potentially do to many Welsh sheep farmers’ livelihoods.’