Live sheep exports could be illegal
16 December 1999
Live sheep exports could be illegal
By Johann Tasker
THE European Commission has embarked on legal action which could end Britains £50 million-a-year trade in live lambs to the Continent.
Infringement procedures have been opened against the government by the commission over the certification of sheep and lambs exported from Britain.
It follows a legal re-examination of claims raised by the Protestors Animal Information Network, an animal rights group led by TV scriptwriter Carla Lane.
Ms Lane claims that live exports of sheep from Britain are illegal because the exported animals cannot always be traced back to their farms of origin.
Although the BSE crisis resulted in the setting-up of a tracking database for British cattle, no such system exists for tracking British sheep.
The commission sent a letter of formal notice of its legal action to Britain on 27 October and gave the government two months to respond.
European officials in Brussels could step up the action and ban the live trade if they are dissatisfied with Britains response, which is due within two weeks.
Junior agriculture minister Elliot Morley has said he would like to ban live exports, but is prevented from doing so because of European free-trade laws.
However, shipments could be halted if Brussels rules against Britain and the government refuses to introduce the compulsory tagging or tracking of sheep.
Such a tracking system, which could cost a fortune, would be opposed by many farmers, who claim their sheep can already be identified by paint-marking.
Meanwhile, other animal rights campaigners have vowed to step up their attempts to end the trade, which exports about 1m live sheep every year.
Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) has backed a private members bill by Gwyn Prosser, the MP for Dover, who also wants live exports banned.
The bill, which came ninth in the annual ballot of for private members bills, will be launched by Mr Prosser on Thursday (16 December).
A spokesman for CIWF said the organisation believed live exports could be banned under a new EU Protocol which recognises animals as “sentient beings”.
“There is a powerful legal case that, as sentient beings, animals are no longer covered by the EU rules which require the free movement of goods,” he said.
But unlikely that Mr Prossers bill will get past a second reading because time constraints in the House of Commons mean government business is given priority.