ELECTRONIC IDENTIFICATION OF SHEEP

That this House recognises that the UK is the largest producer of sheepmeat within the EU; appreciates that most sheep production is in upland areas where there are few alternative enterprises; notes that the requirement for compulsory electronic identification (EID) of all sheep under EU Directive 21/2004 may be possible for small lowland flocks but is in practice unachievable in extensive large upland flocks which rely on batch movement; believes that this requirement will cause another extra cost imposition on all producers which will make an already marginal enterprise uneconomic; does not see any benefit to food safety or disease control from such a measure; and calls upon the Government to insist on a derogation to make EID voluntary within the UK.