Smith requests EU Commission to declare country free of brucellosis

FARMERS have welcomed a decision by Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith to formally request the European Commission to declare Ireland a country free of brucellosis in cattle from next April.

Mr Smith said he is in a position to do so because of the dramatic reduction in the incidence of the disease over the past ten years and because there had been no confirmed outbreak of this disease here since April 2006.

IFA president Padraig Walshe said farmers had endured significant costs and inconvenience in the fight to eradicate the disease from the national herd. “The contribution made by the farming community to eradicating the disease must now be rewarded with a substantial reduction in the costs associated with testing,” he said.