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A delegation from the IFA met with senior veterinary officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on Monday morning on the implementation of the clean livestock policy.
The news comes after Kepak suspended lamb processing on Monday over the policy.
IFA sheep chair Sean Dennehy said the policy is currently being implemented in an overzealous manner.
As expected, there was a robust exchange of views, with Dennehy expressing farmers' views and concerns about a policy that has led to growing disruption of normal processing activity in recent weeks.
“The meeting made some headway on important elements of the policy," said Sean Dennehy.
"We have said for many weeks that the Department needs to adopt a more practical and realistic approach, particularly given the high rainfall levels and difficult ground conditions farmers have had to deal with.”
The Irish Farmers Journal understands that up to 3,600 sheep were classified as category C last week, with up to 1,000 of those imported from Northern Ireland for direct slaughter.
This works out at a little over 7% of throughput, in the region of 50,000 head, with 93% of the kill falling into categories A and B.
On sheep being rejected for slaughter and sent home from factories, Dennehy said: “It is unacceptable to the IFA that there are sheep being presented for slaughter sent home from factories.
"The Department has agreed to review this and communicate with the IFA towards the end of the week.”
The Department of Agriculture made it clear that category C sheep cannot be presented for slaughter.
Dennehy said that farmers will continue to endeavour to present their sheep as clean as possible, but stressed that full shearing of sheep was never part of the policy.
“Full shearing is unreasonable and unnecessary and we have told the Department that this requirement was never part of the policy and is unworkable.
"Farmers are caught in the firing line and it is not acceptable that measures that will add significant cost and labour are being requested.”
Dennehy said he will also be raising the clean livestock policy and the disruption of normal processing capacity at Monday’s CAP consultation meeting in Cork.
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