Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-07-01-Speech-2-228"
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"en.20030701.7.2-228"2
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".
The Commission proposal addresses the acknowledged need for urgent reinforcement of the current rules for identification and registration of sheep and goats, in particular in view of the experience acquired from the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease crisis.
The estimation of the costs of introduction of the reinforced system on a Community-wide basis has to take into account the diversity of the sheep population and the sheep production systems in the Member States. In the absence of precise information on movements and other parameters, the estimate has to be based on the general structure of the various production systems.
On this basis, the overall costs of the reinforced system are estimated to vary between EUR 1 for traditional eartags to EUR 3.7 for electronic identification per sheep per year.
I recognise that this proposal will require significant efforts by both operators and authorities. But these efforts in my opinion and in the opinion of the Commission are both worthwhile and necessary.
In its resolution on foot and mouth disease of December 2002, the European Parliament stated that the Commission should as quickly as possible submit a proposal to amend Directive 92/102/EEC so as to improve the identification of pigs, sheep and goats.
According to current legislation sheep and goats must be identified with an eartag or a tattoo linked to the holding. The keepers must keep an up-to-date register on the holding, and the competent authority must keep an up-to-date central register of holdings.
The main new elements of the proposed system are individual identification, double eartagging to ensure that identity is retained where one eartag is lost, and the introduction of a movement document.
Individual identification is essential for the effective tracing of animals for veterinary purposes, which is of crucial importance for the control of contagious diseases.
The introduction of a reinforced system will have a positive impact in case of outbreaks of major animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, allowing the rapid identification of the source of infection and limiting the further spread of the disease. Furthermore it will allow accurate tracing of animals in the framework of the animal disease eradication programmes financed by the Community. Finally, such a system would assist in reducing fraud.
The technology of electronic identification for sheep and goats has progressed to such a stage that it can now be applied. The Commission launched a large-scale pilot project – the IDEA Project – in 1998. The final report of this project, which included sheep and goats, as well as bovine animals, was completed in 2002.
However, the implementing measures required for the proper introduction of the system of electronic identification on a Community scale have yet to be fully developed. The proposal therefore provides for further guidelines and procedures to be adopted through the Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, with entry into force of obligatory electronic tagging foreseen for 1 July 2006.
I am well aware of the diversity of the sheep population and the sheep production systems in the Member States. The proposal therefore includes options, which would allow: Member States to defer the identification of lambs up to the age of 6 months, where sheep are kept under extensive farming conditions, for instance in Scotland – to which the questioner referred; Member States to apply simplified identification arrangements to young lambs, up to six months of age, intended for direct slaughter. The options decided upon will influence the likely costs to the farmers of introducing the new system."@en1
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