The key to maintaining an animal transport system out of Ireland, particularly in relation to calves, is “good standards” according to the Midlands North-West MEP Colm Markey.
Markey told Agriland today (Wednesday, August 23) at the Virginia Agricultural Show, that he has been heavily involved in the European Parliament’s Transport Committee over the last 18 months in relation to the transport of live animals.
The European Commission plans to “revise animal welfare legislation” by the end of 2023 and is carrying out a review of current legislation which includes the transport of live animals.
According to Markey, the key objective for Ireland is to ensure that the current live animal transport system, which is reliant on boats, is maintained because he said 250,000 calves per year leave the country to go Europe and that is “vital” for farmers.
“We need to ensure there is traceability; the temperature control in the lorries; the appropriate resting times – we need to focus on all of those aspects,” the MEP said.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) published a review on ‘Transport of live animals in the EU: Challenges and opportunities’ earlier this year in March, which examined the main factors behind the transport of live animals and trends in animal transport.
The ECA identified a number of “opportunities” which it put forward in relation to the review of animal welfare legislation which included harnessing the potential of IT and technological improvements to track all animal journeys and using digital tools to optimise the planning and logistics of animal transport.
According to Markey there will be new EU regulations on animal welfare that will come into effect specifically in relation to the transport calves.
“There is an ask that calves will not be transported before they are 28 days old. My sense on that is that this shouldn’t affect next year’s calf trade; it will be the year after at the earliest.
“The regulations are due to come into force during the year 2024 at European level but then they will have to be transposed into national legislation.
“Until then I would be concerned about maintaining the standards and that there are no issues and the system can keep working,” Markey added.
He said another key issue that is on the table when the European Parliament and European Commission return from summer recess is potential Mercorsur deals.
“With Portugal having the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and Portugal being one of the countries that would like to see a trade deal with the Mercorsur countries, there could be a lot political momentum to try and make that happen, so over the next couple of months that’s something we have to watch.
“We need to keep pushing on the standards at the EU level because ultimately we have a higher costs base because of the standards we have in Europe and we can’t let product come in at a lower level,” Markey added.
He said there is also the potential threat from trade deals that have been agreed by the UK.
“The UK has done trade deals with New Zealand and Australia and particularly when it comes to lamb as much as the beef,” he said.
“It is okay when there is good lamb prices and they can get lamb into China but when the pressure is on, that lamb will come into the UK and we have to make sure it doesn’t leak into the EU as well – that is a concern.
“We also want to make sure that Irish product is not displaced off UK shelves and from my perspective in relation to the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) funding that’s important
“I asked for the BAR deadline to be extended because the impact of Brexit is really only taking effect and those trade deals with Australia and New Zealand are only starting to kick in now.
“We don’t have the historic data for BAR yet but in another’s year time we will have plenty of data,” the MEP stated.
He said the return of the EU institutions after the summer break will see a number of key discussions get underway which could have a direct impact on Irish farmers.
“Next week we’ll be dealing with carbon farming legislation going through the Agriculture Committee and this could be a new income stream for farmers.
“We want to create a framework where farmers can trade carbon – we need to see farmers getting paid for carbon sequestration,” Markey added.
Additional reporting by Breifne O’Brien