MEPS call for end to compulsory electronic tagging of sheep plan

A MAJOR initiative to stop the European Union moving ahead with compulsory electronic tagging of sheep was launched in the European Parliament yesterday as fears grew for the survival of the sheep sector.

A number of MEPs, including Ireland’s Mairead McGuinness, launched a written declaration urging the Commission to acknowledge that compulsory tagging would impose additional costs on the sheep sector at a time when it can ill afford such a burden.

The MEPs are calling for the Commission to look at a voluntary system and to recognise that the many practical problems with the proposed electronic tagging system have not been resolved.