i) Cross Border Trading In Ireland At Risk
Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has expressed major concerns over the potential demand for Export Health Certificates (EHCs) post Brexit. Any business that exports live animals or animal products, including any products that contain animal derived ingredients, from the UK into the EU will require an EHC signed by a certified Vet.
FUW agree that the potential spike in demand for EHCs across the UK could place significant pressure on governing bodies and those certified Vets who must sign each and every certificate. This new requirement alone could delay exporting products to the EU and particularly cross-border in Ireland.
ii) MEPs Accept New EU Farm Commissioner
Members of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee have accepted Poland’s Janusz Wojciechowski as the next EU Farm Chief. The committee Chairman Norbert Lins states that the committee is ready to push for actions towards a successful Common Agricultural Policy.
iii) German Farmers Protest Against ‘Excessive Regulation’
Farmers in Germany have caused significant disruption to traffic by staging a nationwide protest against new agri-environmental regulations.
Thousands of producers attended the protests across Germany opposing what is considered to be excessive regulation in the fields of environmental and animal protection.