Shortly after the 2016 vote to leave the EU came the predictable calls for a ban on the live export of animals outside of the UK.

Live animal export has long been an emotive issue, especially in England, where the urban population is disconnected from rural life.

While the UK is in the EU, banning this trade to the continent is not possible. After the EU referendum, the issue is firmly back on the agenda.

A chief campaigner against live exports is the current Defra secretary, Theresa Villiers. In 2017, she introduced a private member’s bill proposing a ban, although it was withdrawn later in the year after ministers suggested government might be willing to legislate.

In 2018, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC), a group that advises government, was asked to undertake a review and make recommendations.

Their report is now complete and understood to propose even further restrictions, specifically suggesting that animals for slaughter “should not be transported longer distances if suitable alternatives are available”.

Illogical

This has been interpreted as meaning that livestock should only go to the nearest abattoir.

For agriculture in NI, it is potentially one of the most anti-competitive and illogical suggestions ever to be made.

The release of the FAWC report, and an accompanying public consultation, is on hold until after the election.

But given that the current prime minister Boris Johnson, and the Labour party, have backed a ban on live animal exports, it seems inevitable that the issue will return in the new year.

However, it should also be pointed out that Theresa Villiers in her private member’s bill, and the Labour party in its animal welfare manifesto published in August 2019, both included exemptions for livestock moved across the Irish border.

The irony is that movements across the Irish border make up the vast majority of UK live exports of cattle and sheep to the EU for direct slaughter. But aside from that, hopefully it is a sign that common sense might prevail.

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