Farmers call for passport reforms

FARMERS ARE calling for changes to the cattle passport system because they believe current arrangements are unfair.

Producers are falling foul of tough penalties, introduced in Nov 2003, which mean that animals are not given a full passport unless they are registered within 27 days of birth.

Without a full passport animals are virtually worthless because they cannot be sold and they are banned from going into the food chain.

The English Beef and Lamb Executive estimates 30,000 cattle could be left without passports by the end of the year, if late applications continue at their current level.

According to EBLEX this represents an estimated a loss of £38m to the beef industry, £18m of which is a direct loss to producers.

Shrops farmer Trevor Mold said he had recently had seven calves denied a passport as the applications arrived a day late because of postal problems.

Mr Mold, who runs a farm of 81ha (200 acres) and works as a contractor to boost his income, said he had had appealed the decision with BCMS but had been unsuccessful.

Since he has no room within his system to incorporate them as breeding stock the calves will have to be slaughtered.

“It‘s a real waste, it [BCMS] is forcing people to break the rules and manufacture dates of birth. The system is open to abuse,” he said.

“Why can‘t they fine you?” he asked. “It‘s far more sympathetic.”

A spokeswoman for the Rural Payments Agency said ways to register animals had been improved, so producers were advised to make use of other registration methods than the post.

FARMERS WEEKLY also contacted the BCMS helpline and was told it will accept emergency registrations over the phone but only if the calf is 22-27 days old.