DEFRA has today (Tuesday) launched its long-awaited consultation on ways for government to share the cost of controlling animal diseases with farmers.

The consultation comes despite a plea last week by 28 industry bodies to defer the policy, to give livestock farmers a chance to recover from this year's financial problems.

As well as contributing to the cost of diseases such as foot-and-mouth and bluetongue, the government is also seeking views on how the farming industry can be more involved in the decision-making process.

"It is only right that the industry should have a greater say in how disease is controlled and outbreaks are managed, as they are directly affected by those decisions," said junior DEFRA minister Jeff Rooker.

"We want to reform the current system so that the industry is central to the decision-making process and contributes to the costs of those decisions in a fair and transparent way."

In particular, DEFRA wants to hear views on whether the process of raising funds and taking decisions should be done through existing industry bodies or new ones.

Methods of raising funds suggested in the consultation include a levy on producers, a top-up to their public liability insurance premiums and a bank guarantee serviced by the whole industry.

The consultation responses will be used to help develop detailed proposals on responsibility and cost sharing, which will be further consulted on in 2008.

The deadline for responses has been set as 15 April 2008.

Read what other farmers think about the proposals on the forums and join the debate.