9 Identification and registration system
for sheep and goats
(24166)
15829/02
COM(02) 729
| Draft Council Regulation establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals and amending Regulation (EEC) No. 3508/92.
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| Legal base | Article 37 EC; consultation; QMV
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| Department | Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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| Basis of consideration | Second SEM of 27 August 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 63-x (2002-03), paragraph 4 (29 January 2003) and HC 63-xix (2002-03), paragraph 1 (30 April 2003)
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared (by Resolution of the House on 14 July 2003); request to be kept informed
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Background
9.1 Council Directive 92/102/EEC establishes a system for the
identification and registration of animals, principally in order
to enable veterinary checks to be carried out, but also to identify
certain types of livestock eligible for Community aid schemes
to be identified. Its main provision requires Member States to
maintain an up-to-date list of all holdings on which animals covered
by the Directive are kept, and to ensure that the owners maintain
a register stating the number of animals present on the holding,
together with a record of all births, deaths and movements. In
the latter case, information also has to be provided, on at least
an aggregate basis, showing the date of movement, and the holding
of origin or destination. In the case of cattle, each animal must
be identified individually by an ear tag, whereas other animals
may simply be marked in such a way as to make it possible to identify
the holding from which they have come.
9.2 As we noted in our Reports of 29 January and
30 April 2003, the Commission put forward the current document
in December 2002, following the foot-and-mouth crisis. The main
changes proposed were that:
- all sheep and goats born after
1 July 2003, or intended for intra-Community trade, should be
tagged in each ear within one month of birth, with an individual
identification number;
- as from 1 July 2003, farm registers should contain
precise information on the identity of all animals on the holding,
as well as on births, deaths, and movements onto or from the holding;
- as from 1 July 2003, documents should be issued
by the Member State to accompany each batch of sheep or goats
being moved;
- as from 1 July 2004, Member States should have
in place a central register of holdings keeping sheep and goats;
- as from 1 July 2005, each Member State should
have set up a computerised central database; and
- Member States may allow one ear tag to be replaced
with an electronic identifier, with this becoming mandatory from
1 July 2006.
9.3 The proposal also amends Regulation (EEC) No.
3508/92 in order to establish that the granting of aid, such as
the Sheep Annual Premium payment, should be dependent on compliance
with these conditions.
9.4 Our earlier Reports noted that the UK supported
the objective of the proposal, and had in place measures which
satisfied some of its key elements. Nevertheless, the Government
considered that the proposal would give rise to major implementation
problems, especially in the UK, which has the largest number of
sheep and goats of any Member State, and also on average moves
each sheep more often. In particular, it believed that electronic
identification and associated systems would need to be introduced
on a widespread basis in order to record the details of individual
sheep and goats routinely, and that technical guidance would be
crucial to their implementation throughout the Community.
These difficulties were illustrated by the cost figures contained
in the Regulatory Impact Assessment provided by the Government
in April 2003 (and quoted in our later Report), and we therefore
recommended that the proposal be debated in European Standing
Committee A. That debate duly took place on 9 July 2003.
Second supplementary Explanatory Memorandum
9.5 In a second supplementary Explanatory Memorandum
of 27 August 2003, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
(Commons) at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Mr Ben Bradshaw) has provided an updated Regulatory Impact Assessment
in the light of the Government's recent consultation exercise,
though this appears merely to confirm the figures contained in
the earlier Assessment. He also confirms that there remain major
problems with the implementation of the proposal as drafted, and
he says that, although the Government stressed during the debate
in European Standing Committee A its commitment to improving the
traceability of sheep and goats, the Commission's proposals would
impose unacceptable burdens on the UK sheep industry, which would
not be proportionate to the disease risk.
9.6 The Minister also points out that the proposed
date of 1 July 2003 for the implementation of double tagging and
individual animal recording has now passed, and that, at a Council
Working Group held on 8-9 July to discuss the proposal, the majority
of Member States indicated that they could not accept it in its
present form. The Commission was therefore asked to bring forward
a revised proposal after the summer break.
Conclusion
9.7 Given the debate held in European Standing
Committee A on 9 July, we think it sufficient simply to draw this
latest information to the attention of the House. In doing so,
we note that the Commission has been asked to bring forward a
revised proposal, and we would be glad if the Government would
continue to keep us informed of any significant developments.
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