This is a subscriber-only article
The mandatory electronic (EID) tagging of all sheep is “is a necessary step” to further underpin Ireland’s sheep traceability system, according to Meat Industry Ireland (MII), the body representing the meat factories.
MII said that mandatory EID tagging will put the sector on a sound footing for future development.
Cormac Healy of MII said: “The extension of EID to all sheep ensures that Ireland keeps pace with developments in other major sheep-producing member states in the EU.
“This is critically important to the positioning of Irish lamb in the marketplace and to competing for key customer accounts.
“Furthermore, MII and its members are working actively with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to progress access to new international markets such as the US, Japan and China.
“This announcement will be an important enabler to progressing these applications and ultimately delivering new international market access opportunities for Irish lamb exports,” he said.
New rules
The new rules will require all sheep sold from 1 October 2018 onwards to be identified electronically. According to the Department, this timeframe will give farmers a reasonable period of time to use up stocks of tags on hand.
The Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has said that he intends to introduce a one-off support measure up to a maximum of €50 per keeper for the first purchase of EID tags.
SHARING OPTIONS: