I have receved the Countryside allince news letter today and it contains a rather intresting story

 Animal Tax

On Tuesday next week the Government's consultation on 'a new independent body for animal health' concludes. You will not be surprised to learn that the real purpose of the Government's proposals is not obvious from the title. Defra says that it wants to create a new independent body, but the proposal is actually to take over 240 staff and associated costs out of Defra and with it direct responsibility for 'exotic disease outbreaks'. And it wants animal keepers to pay for the majority of the costs associated with the prevention and control of such diseases.

This seems to be a politically expedient proposal that would both save money and insulate the Government in the event of a major animal disease outbreak. I can hear the Minister now arguing that "animal health is the responsibility of the independent body for Animal Health" in the face of criticism about the handling of a disease crisis. Meanwhile Defra is also seeking to protect itself from the cost of such outbreaks by raising a levy from animal keepers and making insurance compulsory.

We have fundamental concerns about this whole proposal. The separation of responsibility for 'animal health' in this new body and 'animal welfare' which

will remain with Defra is illogical and arbitrary. The new body will be yet another layer of pointless bureaucracy and it is hard to escape the conclusion that the new body being proposed is simply a way of trying to reconcile owners of livestock to the idea of what effectively amounts to a tax on the industry.

And the cost to you? A levy of £10.50 a horse, £4.80 a dairy cow plus, £1.20 for beef animals, 82p a sheep and 4p for poultry and gamebirds. These costs could be applicable to each owner, rather than each animal, so for instance, in the case of game farmers and shoots, each bird would be paid for twice. Then on top of that there is an as yet uncalculated sum for insurance to cover compensation in the event of a disease outbreak.

This is cost shifting, not cost sharing, and all the more reprehensible when you remember the cause of the last foot and mouth outbreak. If this scheme had been in place then farmers would have been paying to compensate themselves for an outbreak caused by a leak from a Government laboratory. As I said last week there could be up to another 11 months until an election and during this time it will be Defra Ministers who are making the important decisions that affect our lives, our communities and our countryside. This proposal is one of them.

The Alliance has been working with other rural organisations and will be submitting a response to the consultation. Anyone who would like to add their views should visit the consultation homepage.