The meat industry has praised Defra’s delay of its controversial new regulations on meat exports.
Intended to come into force on 13 December, the rules from the government department would have required regular farm visits from a vet to check on the health of livestock and provide written evidence for EU meat exports.
Meat industry leaders had warned that the regulations could lead to a loss of EU export markets, livestock being devalued, and other issues in the supply chain.
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The problem with the proposed rules, according to industry experts, is the reliance on a paper-based system which would require each part of an animal to be accompanied by paperwork approving a vet visit ahead of any export.
Currently, EU laws only require verification of a vet visit once a year, and do not specify how the certification is carried out.
However, enforcement has been postponed for 12 months, with Defra saying it was “aware of the concerns raised by industry about the process of providing evidence of regular vet visits”.
In a statement, Defra said: “We are engaging with businesses and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to try and ease the burden on exporters in meeting these EU requirements.”
CEO of the meat processing company the British Meat Processors Association, Nick Allen told The Grocer: “It gives farmers time to get the vet visits done and it gives us time to get a system in place so for once it’s a happy decision.”
“It was a really serious problem and had the potential to cause some real disruption in the supply chain,” Allen said.
A solution would need to consider where and how vet visits would be recorded and to limit the paperwork and keep it accessible, he added. “It should be relatively easy to find a digital solution now that we have got the time to do it.”
The news comes as environmental campaigners have criticised the government’s “inaction” on limiting single-use plastics and are now calling for a ban to be introduced as quickly as possible.
