New era of strict cattle controls

By James Campbell

CATTLE farmers in Northern Ireland are facing into a new era of stricter controls on the identification and movement of cattle.

Receipt of livestock premia payments could be dependent on the farmer's compliance with the letter of the law on animal identification and maintenance of herd registers. That seems to be the most direct means likely to be used to achieve the total traceability of cattle which we are told is necessary for beef to be exported or to be sold within UK supermarkets.

A very tight timetable has been set for the implementation of the tighter controls. Northern Ireland's beef industry will be subject to a further audit by EU Commission inspectors in October.

In the meantime there is a massive task to be undertaken. Animals born between 1 January and 14 September 1998 which were tagged with a single metal tag in compliance with Northern Ireland legislation at that time will have to be double-tagged.

Ulster Farmers' Union president Will Taylor says that Government compensation should be made available to farmers to cover the cost of this exercise.

Much greater financial implications may rear their ugly head.

Big question marks hang over the future saleability of any animal declared "untraceable". There is provision in EU legislation for such animals to be destroyed without compensation.

Beef producers are in the bizarre situation where some of their cattle may be regarded as non-traceable due to late notification of birth dates by previous owners of the animals. The current owners have no idea which animals - and how many - in their possession are in this category. There are estimates that up to 300,000 cattle could be affected.

Cattle farmers can only hope that things will not be so bad as initially feared. But it does seem that the new regime will change the lives of cattlemen, dealers and auction mart operators for ever.