‘Farmers penalised over Defra TB testing’

FARMERS in Wales are being unfairly penalised by Defra’s “incomprehensible” decision to impose post-movement TB testing on low-risk cattle traded with England, the FUW has claimed.

The union has written to the UK rural ministry to challenge its testing rules on the cross-border movement of cattle from the Low TB Area of Wales into the Low Risk Area of England.

It has been angered by an issue it regards as a litmus test of post-Brexit relations between Cardiff and Westminster.

Despite Welsh Government negotiations, Defra has insisted on keeping post-movement TB tests for Welsh cattle even though they are not needed when lowrisk cattle move from England to Wales.

It did so because it categorises all Welsh parishes as “high risk” areas due to Wales’ blanket annual testing regime. In contrast, herds in English Low Risk Area are tested every four years.

The FUW points out that, according to Defra’s own statistics, bovine TB levels in the Low TB Area of Wales are comparable to, or better than, those in the English Low Risk Area (LRA).

Dr Hazel Wright, the union’s senior policy officer, said: “By continuing the post-movement testing requirement, Defra has continued to perpetrate misconceptions about the Welsh annual testing regime. Defra’s refusal to negotiate with the Welsh Government on this issue is incredibly frustrating.

“Given the level of TB in the Low TB Area of Wales, and the lack of any relationship between TB risk and the Welsh annual testing regime, the FUW has written to Defra to ask for clarity on the decision making process.”

Earlier this year, Defra submitted an application to the EC to gain Officially TB Free (OTF) status for England’s LRA. The ministry highlighted figures showing that the introduction of postmovement testing of Welsh cattle in England’s LRA made little difference to the trade.

In the year after the rule was imposed only 20 fewer Welsh animals headed across the border – 21,800 in 2016-17 against 21,820 in 2015-16. Moreover, said Defra, the Welsh trade was a drop in the ocean compared with the total movements in England’s LRA – 780,000 in 2016-17.

Each month the UK, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments meet to discuss TB regimes, and Defra said this would continue.