Livestock transport fears cloud UK-EU SPS talks
© Tim Scrivener The National Sheep Association (NSA) has warned the UK government not to compromise practical livestock transport rules as it negotiates closer post-Brexit trade arrangements with the EU.
The organisation is urging ministers to scrutinise proposed changes to EU livestock transport legislation as part of ongoing negotiations on a UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, warning they could have unintended consequences for the sheep sector.
See also: Don’t rush into SPS deal, industry leaders warn government
NSA policy manager Michael Priestley said an SPS agreement should reduce bureaucracy and improve trade with Europe, but stressed any future regulatory alignment must be science-led and developed with industry.
One of the association’s biggest concerns is that the time animals spend at livestock markets could be counted towards their overall journey time under planned EU rules.
“At this stage, the proposal is developing and has received hundreds of edits so far,” he said.
“But if it were to become enshrined in law, it could jeopardise big ram sales like the NSA Wales & Border Ram Sale held in September at Builth Wells, and other major sales such as Kelso,” he said.
Practical difficulties
Mr Priestley warned the changes could also make some abattoir collection routes unworkable, restrict the movement of breeding sheep between upland and lowland farms, and increase pressure on areas already short of local slaughter facilities.
The NFU echoed those concerns, saying the UK’s livestock marketing system must be recognised in any future agreement.
NFU chief livestock adviser John Royle said the proposed journey limits looked workable “on the face of it”, but the way time at livestock markets was treated posed a significant challenge.
“When you start to look at how the market functions – what we’ve traditionally had is time in markets and collection centres was neutral time. From what we can see, that isn’t permitted here.”
He said the industry should now work together to identify practical issues and agree a common UK position before the legislation is finalised.
Robust assessment
FUW president Ian Rickman said the union “would have significant concerns about alignment with EU rules that introduce stricter rules on journey times that would be entirely impractical.”
He added that any agreement must be fully assessed with industry to ensure it delivered a net benefit for UK agriculture and avoided “negative unintended consequences”.