Written question asked by Lord Redwood (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 September 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 October 2004. It was answered by Alun Michael (Labour) on Monday, 11 October 2004 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what scope the Government has to allow late registration of cattle under EU rules; what plans the Government has to review the policy on cattle registration. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what scope the Government have to allow late registration of cattle under EU rules; [189481] (2) what plans the Government have to review the policy on cattle registration. [189482] Alun Michael: The EU Regulations governing the identification and tracing of cattle require birth notifications of cattle to be made within 27 days of birth. There is no scope to extend the deadline beyond 27 days. We do not think that 27 days is an unreasonable deadline, bearing in mind the need for accurate and timely data if we are to manage disease outbreaks such as foot and mouth disease. The penalties to be applied in respect of late notifications are at the discretion of Member States. Our current policy of refusing passports for late applications was introduced with the agreement of the industry and has been successful in reducing the number of late registrations of cattle from 6.9 per cent. to 1 per cent.. In light of the industry's concerns my officials are reviewing the existing enforcement arrangements, but any change must maintain the level of improvement we have achieved so far.

Secondary information