Farming leaders fear NZ sheep farmers may be forced to electronically tag the country's 34.2 million sheep now it will be compulsory for UK farmers to do so from January 1 next year reports The ODT. The Daily Telegraph has reported the EU has passed a law requiring all 30 million UK sheep to carry electronic identification tags (EID) so their movements can be tracked from birth to death. British farmers have vowed to fight the law. Ian Corney, the chairman of the body implementing an EID scheme in NZ for cattle and deer, said it was only a matter of time before it would be a requirement for sheep. "I would have to say it was definitely on the horizon. We have seen Australia tagging sheep and the European countries moving into it." EID tags have been a requirement for European sheep farmers since 2003, at a cost of $NZ270 million, and EID was being implemented to help contain an outbreak of exotic disease, such as foot-and-mouth. Federated Farmers meat and fibre section chairman Bruce Wills feared the requirement could be imposed on NZ. But if it was proposed, he would want to know why and what in-depth analysis had been done. Political and farming leaders and the National Animal Identification and Tracing (Nait) implementation body have all said that while markets required traceability in cattle and deer, there was no such driver for sheep. Mr Wills said any move to implement it in New Zealand had to be based on market requirements and market reward. "If there is a good return back to farmers for the additional cost of compliance, we don't have a problem with that."
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