Disease insurance still on boil
Disease insurance still on boil
THE government is pressing ahead with plans to make farmers pay insurance or a levy as cover against outbreaks of notifiable diseases such as foot-and-mouth.
Officials are expected to present DEFRA ministers with a paper by mid-June which sets out three options which would allow them to overhaul the compensation system. It will suggest funding compensation by introducing either a compulsory levy, a voluntary insurance scheme or even compulsory insurance.
DEFRA has been hosting working group meetings on the issue after the Treasury made it clear that it would be unwilling to foot the compensation bill for another disease outbreak. The final working group meeting was held on Wednesday (May 8).
A DEFRA spokeswoman said no decisions were taken at the meeting and the government would consult more widely before anything happened.
But six leading organisations have already formed an alliance to fight the proposals. The Country Land and Business Association, NFU, Tenant Farmers Association, Farmers Union of Wales, National Sheep Association and National Beef Association are united in the belief that the plans must be rejected.
A CLA spokesman said the organisation believed it was essential to maintain the status quo. "We believe if you have a compulsory levy introduced it would impose additional costs affecting the competitiveness of the UK livestock sector which is unacceptable."
He added: "Is this is a question on which DEFRA is acting with undue haste as we have not yet got the outcome of the Anderson inquiry into F&M?" *