ÖPIK SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SHEEP EID SCHEME (Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats)

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Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats <montlibdems@gmail.com>

ÖPIK SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SHEEP EID SCHEME

October 15, 2008 5:34 PM

Today, Lembit Öpik, Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, took part in a debate over the European directive for the compulsory Electronic Identification of Sheep.

Lembit questioned the Minister Jane Kennedy over whether there had been a full Regulatory Impact Assessment on the economic and financial effects on farmers, including those in his constituency, as well as the risks of the system being open to fraud in cases where tags are lost.

Commenting after the debate, he said:

"The Government has now admitted that the costs of this system outweigh the benefits that it would bring, and that if there was a choice in this they would not support the decision.

"The pressure must be kept up on all MEPs to campaign in the European Parliament against this, and to this end, I and my Lib Dem colleagues in Mid Wales have written to all MEPs urging them to sign the written declaration to make EID voluntary rather than mandatory.

"We have at least persuaded the Government of the case against EID, now we need to make sure they continue to make their concerns heard.

"Implementing the Sheep EID scheme would have a serious effect on farmers in my constituency and I trust that the Minister will take into account all the possible side effects of this scheme."