Wednesday, September 12, 2012

"UK politicians must accept their responsibilty...

....to their own farmers and taxpayers as well as to the rest of the EU and commit to a long-term strategy that is not dependent on elections."

 This is the conclusion of the latest European Union report on Defra's efforts (sic) to comply with their assigned international obligation to eradicate bovine TB.

We touched on the most recent tranche of cattle measures, in this posting as our masters in the EU deftly unravelled almost all the measures put in over the last decade in order to allow farmers to trade while under TB restriction. These measures all had the effect of pushing further into the long grass, the question of what to do about the main cause of their problems.

In 2006, DG SANCO, the department responsible for Health and Consumer Affairs in Europe had this to say  about Defra's prevarications. They visited again this spring and their full report can be viewed on on this link.

Its conclusion is unequivocal.
"It is however of utmost importance that there is a political consensus and commitment to long-term strategies to combat TB in badgers as well as in cattle.

The Welsh eradication plan will lose some impetus as badger culling will now be replaced with badger vaccination. This was not part of the original strategy that consisted of a comprehensive plan that has now been disrupted.
There is no scientific evidence to demonstrate that badger vaccination will reduce the incidence of TB in cattle. However there is considerable evidence to support the removal of badgers in order to improve the TB status of both badgers and cattle.
UK politicians must accept their responsibility to their own farmers and taxpayers as well as to the rest of the EU and commit to a long-term strategy that is not dependent on elections.

The TB eradication programme needs continuity and it must be recognised that success will be slow and perhaps hard to distinguish at first. There is a lot of skill and knowledge among the veterinary authorities and they must be allowed time to use it."

There is nothing we could add to that.

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