The cost of implementing mandatory electronic identification (EID) for cattle should be borne “by those who benefit from it”, one farm organisation has argued.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) was responding to an announcement from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine today (Monday, August 9) in which the department confirmed that it will be proceeding with mandatory EID tagging.
This will occur in a two-step rollout that will begin from January 1, next.
Lorcan McCabe, the deputy president of the ICMSA, argued that “we are back in familiar territory”, whereby a change to the system that will benefit the department itself, as well as links further along the supply chain, “is now going to be introduced with attendant costs passed on to farmers”.
“We acknowledge that the cost is only €1.05 to €1.10 per tag per animal, but that’s categorically not the point,” McCabe stated.
He continued: “The point is that this change is specifically for the benefit of regulators and links further along the food supply chain. So why aren’t they bearing the cost?
“The department yet again decided that farmers have to pay for the introduction of a new system even though the department itself will make substantial savings through the introduction of that new system,” McCabe claimed.
The ICMSA deputy president argued that there was a question of “simple fairness” that had to be addressed.
“Surely the principle that should apply here is that whoever derives the benefit of the change should pay. In that case, it is the regulatory bodies or agents involved in the sale or transport of the animals,” he highlighted.
“The idea that the farmers should pay for something that will benefit others is self-evidently wrong and ICMSA will be seeking a permanent subvention that covers the total costs involved,” McCabe stressed.