[caption id="attachment_6804" align="alignleft" width="300"]
(l-r) FUW Pembrokeshire County Chairman David Nicholas, FUW Deputy President Brian Thomas, FUW Senior Policy Officer Dr Hazel Wright, Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths and FUW President Glyn Roberts[/caption]
The critically important issue of bovine TB and potential ways forward for the industry, were top of the agenda when Farmers’ Union of Wales officials met with Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths, at Pembrokeshire County Show.
Union officials highlighted that farmers in Pembrokeshire, many of whom remain affected by long term bovine TB breakdowns, have yet to see any real improvement, despite continuing to adhere to stringent cattle controls.
FUW Senior Policy Officer Dr Hazel Wright said: “The FUW used the meeting with the Cabinet Secretary as an opportunity to reiterate its long-standing position that the disease reservoir in wildlife must be addressed. This is in line with official Ministerial advice previously received by Welsh Government and recognises that controlling the disease in both cattle and badger populations remains imperative to achieving bovine TB eradication in Wales.”
During discussions, the FUW drew attention to the report of the Bovine Tuberculosis Subgroup of the EU Task Force for Monitoring Animal Disease Eradication, published in 2012, which details that the European Commission have recognised the link between badgers and bovine TB transmission to cattle. The report also stressed that moving from a cull to a vaccination programme meant that the eradication programme in Wales had lost momentum.
“We know that our current rates of bovine TB will potentially stop the establishment of trade agreements for the whole of the United Kingdom, unless we make significant inroads towards eradication. The FUW’s longstanding policy on proactively managing the wildlife disease reservoir has been well publicised. If we do not change our policy on wildlife, our exports to the European Union, in a post-Brexit world, are under considerable threat,” she added.