§ Lord Ewing of Kirkfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will report progress on the proposals to introduce a requirement for the tagging or tattooing of all sheep and goats in England before they leave their holding of birth. [HL3334]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Hayman)Consultation documents were issued by the Government on 17 April to seek views on proposals to introduce a requirement for the tagging or tattooing of all sheep and goats in England before they leave their holding of birth. The consultation period ended on 12 June.
We have taken account of the comments given and we now intend to introduce new Sheep and Goat identification legislation in England in early September. Given the need to ensure that the industry has enough time to order and be supplied with the appropriate tags, we have decided that the tagging and tattooing requirements of the new legislation will not take effect until 1 January 2001. We will be writing to all sheep and goat keepers with full details of the new rules shortly.