Scottish Government

Covering Letter

Rural Directorate
Animal Health and Welfare Division
Livestock Traceability Policy

T: 0131-244 -6404
E: Livestock.ID@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

CONSULTATION ON IMPLEMENTATION PROPOSALS FOR EU REQUIREMENTS REGARDING ELECTRONIC IDENTIFICATION ( EID) OF SHEEP AND INDIVIDUAL RECORDING OF SHEEP AND GOATS

I am writing to invite your comments on implementation options for EID of sheep and individual recording of sheep and goats arising from EU Regulations that will come into force on 01 January 2010.

The consultation period will start on 07 September and close on 02 November 2009.

EU Parliament and Council Regulation ( EC) No 21/2004 (the regulation) establishes a system for the identification and tracing of ovine and caprine animals. The Regulation was approved by the UK Government as far back as 2003 with the 1 ^st phase (double tagging) introduced in Scotland in January 2008. The second phase introduces the recording of individual animals by means of electronic identification from 01 January 2010.

This consultation is not seeking your views on the principle of EID which has already been established by EU law and has to be implemented in terms of the Scotland Act 1998. As you will be aware the Scottish Government has all along expressed grave reservations about the current proposals for EID but there has not been enough support from other EU Member States or from the European Commission for a voluntary scheme. However, working in partnership with industry, in what has been an uphill struggle, we have come a long way in the last two years.

We have won significant flexibilities in the Regulation to help our sheep farmers. We previously secured concessions for phasing in the individual recording requirements from 2010 which will significantly reduce the burden on our industry. As recently as 14 July we secured further concessions from the Commission which will allow markets and abattoirs to act as Critical Control Points ( CCP's) to electronically scan animals. This will significantly reduce the cost to farmers for EID implementation.

Should the Scottish Government or its industry fail to implement and comply with the Commission Regulation it would leave us open to infraction procedures and heavy fines that could total millions of pounds in disallowance and loss of Single Farm Payment for industry. It is therefore important that we find workable solutions.

What is being consulted on?

There are a number of significant decisions to be made regarding implementation, including consideration of the following options:

• The slaughter derogation - the Regulation allows lambs to be identified with a single (non electronic) identifier if they are intended for UK slaughter before reaching 12 months of age.
• Replacement tagging - the Regulation provides flexibility in how Member States allow lost or illegible identifiers to be replaced. It is a Scottish decision to adopt rules that suits the industry and maintains traceability.
• Critical Control Points ( CCP's) - the Regulations allows the use of third parties to record individual animal identities on behalf of keepers. It is a Scottish decision to make use of this provision.
• Database - the Regulations allow farm registers and movements documents to be dispensed with if a central database contains all the information required in these documents. It is a Scottish decision to make use of these provisions.

What is not being consulted on?

• EID only after leaving the holding of birth - Scotland and the rest of the UK sent proposals to the EU Commission that sought to allow breeding ewes that stay on the holding of birth to be exempt from compulsory electronic identification until they move off the holding. Unfortunately the EU Commission and the Council of Minsters were not able consider this option and therefore all animals must be identified within 6 months in intensive conditions and 9 months in extensive conditions. We will, however, continue to raise concerns with the European Commission on this issue at every opportunity.

Responding to this consultation paper

We are inviting written responses to this consultation paper by 02 November 2009.

Please send your response to:

Livestock.ID@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or

If you have any queries please contact David McLean on 0131 244 6404.

We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Government consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is.

The Scottish Government now has an email alert system for consultations (SEconsult: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces, SE distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SE consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would encourage you to register.

Handling your response

We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form which forms part of the consultation attached to this letter as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public (see the attached Respondent Information Form), these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Government Library or placed on the Scottish Government consultation web pages. We will check all responses where agreement to publish has been given for any potentially defamatory material before logging them in the library or placing them on the website. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SE Library on 0131 244 4552. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

What happens next?

Following the consultation closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us reach a decision on how the EU identification and recording regulations could be introduced in Scotland. We aim to issue a report on this consultation process as soon as possible and this will include indications of the changes to be made to the legislation.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to:

Name: Derek Wilson
Address: Rm 350 Pentland House, 47 Robb's Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY
E-mail: Derek.Wilson2@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

I look forward to any comments you may have

Yours Sincerely

Nick Ambrose

Dr Nick Ambrose
Head of Animal Health - Disease Prevention
Rural Directorate
Scottish Government

04 September 2009

RESPONDENT INFORMATION FORM: Proposed amendments of the sheep and goat identification and tracing regulations.

THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION PROCESS

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Government working methods.

Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Government, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish Government consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

The Scottish Government encourages consultation that is thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under consideration and the nature of the target audience. Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of factors, and no two exercises are likely to be the same.

Typically Scottish Government consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the issue, and they are also placed on the Scottish Government web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses. Consultation exercises may also involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as through public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises. Copies of all the written responses received to a consultation exercise (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Government library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4565).

All Scottish Government consultation papers and related publications (eg, analysis of response reports) can be accessed at: Scottish Government consultations ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations)

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review;
• inform the development of a particular policy;
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals;
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented.

Final decisions on the issues under consideration will also take account of a range of other factors, including other available information and research evidence.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.