New labelling rules on packaged meat, which came into force on 1 April, are already having a disruptive effect on the movement of lambs and hoggets from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland for slaughter.

Given that NI sent over 370,000 lambs to the south for slaughter in 2014, which accounts for 45% of the total slaughtered lambs produced off local farms, any longer-term disruption to the trade could have major implications for producers here. Lamb trade in NI is traditionally driven by the export market south and the strength of sterling against the euro.

There are reports this week that a number of local buyers have been told by southern factories not to send down hoggets and lambs from NI. Under the new labelling rules, southern factories are required to identify these animals as being of UK or British origin. Just 4,509 lambs went south for slaughter last week, the lowest number so far this year.

The new labelling requirements create a major issue for southern factories, both when batching up groups of lambs for processing and when selling subsequent cuts of lamb into supermarkets. There is a general reluctance on behalf of supermarket buyers to stock product that carries a label which shows it was reared in one member state, but slaughtered and processed in another.