The Farmers’ Union of Wales has accused the Prime Minister of lacking interest in the plight of Welsh sheep farmers after he refused to condemn the EU for deciding to introduce the compulsory electronic identification (EID) of sheep after 2010.

Nearly 400 farmers and politicians have signed a petition on the 10 Downing Street website urging Mr Brown to publicly condemn the EU for its decision which will place UK farmers at an unfair disadvantage compared with importers into the EU who only have to comply with standards well below those required of UK farmers.

The petition, in the name of FUW vice president Glyn Roberts, states that compulsory EID means that the increasing financial and practical burdens placed upon UK farmers will put them at a competitive disadvantage compared with importers into the EU.

Copies of the petition, which calls on the EU to reverse it decision, have been signed by a further 400 FUW members at the union’s 12 county offices throughout Wales.

The petition stresses the technology used for sheep EID has major flaws, including reliability, which brings into question the credibility of the decision.

It adds: "The Government should therefore fight for all the concessions permitted, while making it clear that the actions of the EC are premature, disproportionate, and unjust for the UK sheep industry."

But in a Government response to the petition the demand for the Prime Minister to publicly condemn the EU’s decision has been ignored.

The Government merely admits it is concerned about the disproportionate costs and benefits of individual recording and points out that it has asked the European Commission to review the appropriate Regulation to check whether its objectives are being met in the most cost effective way.

It adds that new rules were agreed in 2003 in a bid to phase in improvements to EU sheep identification and tracking arrangements following the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak.

"Defra has worked very closely with the industry since 2003, when the Regulation was first adopted, and will continue to work closely with them with regard to implementation," states the Government’s response.

"They have identified there are practical issues with implementation, and Defra will work with them to develop a system which is as practical as possible and that industry can make work."

Mr Roberts said: "Naturally, we are very disappointed by the Government’s response and the Prime Minister’s apparent refusal to condemn the EU’s decision on this matter.

"It is well established that Ministers from all of UK’s devolved regions are opposed to the Regulation, so why not speak out against the railroading of EID regulations by the EU?

"I fully appreciate that there are negotiations going on behind the scenes, but those should be based on the evidence and rational arguments put forward by the FUW and others over the years and if the Commission and Member States dig their heels in for political, rather than rational reasons, that behaviour should also be criticised.

"There is now widespread opposition to EID amongst sheep farmers throughout the EU, and it is about time somebody pointed out that the majority of EU farming ministers have failed their own farmers.

"Those in power should publicly speak out against this and the many other ridiculous and irrational Regulations we have to face, rather than being afraid to rock the boat."

European Commission proposals to ease the administrative burden on farmers after electronic identification (EID) of sheep and goats is introduced next year were described by the Farmers’ Union of Wales today as small concessions.

Welcoming the proposals, the chairman of the union’s hill farming committee Derek Morgan said: "This is one of the concessions we lobbied the Commission and its Joint Research Centre for during their visit to Wales in February, and I am glad an element of commonsense has been allowed to prevail.

"The provision will be a significant help for those sending sheep to market, as it will allow market operators to do the electronic reading and reporting for them.

"However, it is a small concession in the grander scheme of things, particularly as farmers sending sheep out on tack or between holdings will still have to individually record and report movements themselves."

The EC proposals include: electronic reading of animals at critical control points (eg markets, slaughter houses) instead of at each single farm; a simplified procedure for retagging of animals; and reducing information obligations for the annual inventory.

EID will become obligatory for most lambs born after December 31, 2009 and from 2011 the individual identity of each sheep or goat will be recorded whenever they move.

A four-man delegation from the Farmers’ Union of Wales led by its president will meet Welsh MPs at Westminster on Wednesday (July 15) to discuss the serious concerns of the Welsh dairy sector following the collapse of Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFB).

Mr Vaughan will be joined by the union’s milk committee chairman, Anglesey dairy farmer Eifion Huws, who, as a DFB member, has lost tens of thousands of pounds after the farmers’ cooperative suddenly went into receivership.

Together with FUW policy director Nick Fenwick and Powys dairy farmer Bryan Jones, they will attend separate meetings organised by Anglesey’s Labour MP Albert Owen and shadow Welsh minister and Clwyd West MP David Jones.

Mr Owen has already visited Mr Huws’s farm for a first-hand overview of the effects of DFB’s collapse on the Welsh dairy sector and David Jones has questioned Commons leader Harriet Harman and Defra minister Hilary Benn about the circumstances surrounding the co-operative’s crash.

Around 1,800 farmers throughout Wales and Northern England have lost millions of pounds as a consequence of DFB’s receivership, both in terms of lost revenue and capital. Now they have been warned by the receivers that they may be liable on guarantees they signed when they joined the group.

Mr Vaughan said today: "DFB’s collapse has been disastrous for numerous people involved in the Welsh dairy industry who are now struggling to remain in business.

"Their plight just keeps getting worse especially after the news that the receiver may pursue them on their guarantees.

"We will be urging the MPs to demand that the Government carries out a full inquiry into all the reasons for DFB’s collapse."

A package of Welsh Assembly Government measures to help the Welsh dairy industry received the firm support of the Farmers’ Union of Wales today.

Rural affairs minister Elin Jones announced that following the recent collapse of Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFoB) she could exercise some exceptional measures of flexibility within EU rules.

As a result, Welsh dairy producers who did not receive payment for milk supplied to DFoB in May and meet the conditions of the CAP Single Payment Scheme will, from October 16, receive a 70% advance on the payment they would normally be paid from December.

"During a recent meeting with Elin Jones we agreed that such an advance payment should be made in order to help those who did not receive payment for their milk following the collapse of DFB, and we are very glad she has taken the matter forward in this way," said FUW’s milk and dairy produce committee chairman Eifion Huws.

Ms Jones also announced the Assembly had joined forces with DairyCo - the national levy board for the dairy industry - to jointly fund a new high-level co-ordinator post to work on behalf of dairy farmers in Wales.

The post, to be advertised nationally shortly, will ensure that in future Welsh dairy farmers receive a range of complementary support, assistance and strategic direction.

"The minister’s decision to work with DairyCo and appoint a head of dairy development for Wales is a helpful measure at a crucial time for the sector," Mr Huws added.

Ms Jones said the 70 per cent advance of the full 2009 Single Payment could only be made once all validation checks have been successfully completed.

An Aberconwy tenant farmer has complained to his local AM that he had still not received a big Tir Gofal payment expected last January and later promised it would be paid into his bank account a month ago.

Farmers’ Union of Wales member Gwynedd Evans, of Bryn Bras, Padog, Betws y Coed, met Gareth Jones AM with union officials and raised the issue together with other matters including the need for common land to be included in the proposed Glastir scheme as soon as possible.

The cost of electronic tagging (EID) of sheep and the proposed EU legislation controlling private water supplies was also discussed.

Mr Evans said he was pleased that Mr Jones and Wales MEP Jill Evans were already pursuing with the Welsh Assembly Government the possible derogation of the water supplies legislation.

But after his substantial Tir Gofal payment had been held up since January due to cross compliance red tape he claimed he had been promised it had been sorted out and the payment would be in his bank account a last month.

However, it has still not arrived and he and his family are finding it difficult to manage because he is investing in a new slurry pit which must be completed in time for the winter housing of his suckler cow herd.

Mr Jones assured Mr Evans he would raise the non-payment issue with the Assembly’s rural affairs minister Elin Jones.

Two well-known Welsh Black Cattle breeders - both stalwarts of the Farmers’ Union of Wales - were presented with awards during the union’s annual general meeting today in recognition of their lifelong work.

Trefor Jones, founder of the Cwmcae Herd of Welsh Blacks at Llandre, Bow Street, near Aberystwyth, was recently installed as the breed society’s president. He has exported cattle and sheep to Europe and is a mine of information on the problems of exporting cattle because of TB and other restrictions.

He is always willing to assist and promote the FUW and has exhibited his prize bulls at both Stradey Park and the Millennium Stadium to stress the union’s support for Welsh Beef when the Scarlets and Wales played against the All Blacks.

Mr Jones always supports local and national shows and has won numerous prizes including the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s beef champion in 2005.

Known to all as Trefor Cwmcae, he is a past chairman of the FUW’s Ceredigion branch and is currently one of the county’s delegates on the FUW Grand Council and Ceredigion’s representative on the union’s central livestock, wool and marts committee.

FUW president Gareth Vaughan presented him with the award in recognition of the agricultural industry in Wales.

Mr Vaughan also presented Richard ap Simon Jones, of Ysguboriau, Tywyn, with an award in recognition of services to the FUW and the agricultural industry in Wales.

Mr ap Simon Jones has been a leading figure of the FUW since its formation 54 years ago and is now regarded as a father figure of the union. He was national vice president between 1976 and 1980 - a crucial period in the development of the FUW when it was officially recognised by the government.

For almost the whole of his farming life in Ysguboriau, he has maintained unstinting loyalty to the union, regularly attending county and national meetings, and he still attends the county committee in Dolgellau and the FUW Grand Council as a life member.

He has made an outstanding contribution to the FUW and the agricultural industry, and was awarded the MBE for his services in the early 1980s. During the early 1990s, he became an influential chairman of the Gwynedd Flood Defence Committee, a post he held for 11 years.

He has also been a leading member of the Welsh Black Cattle Society - having been a former president and chaired its governing council for 12 years.

He has been a cattle judge at major agricultural shows - the Royal Welsh Show, the Royal Show, and Royal Highland Show - and is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies.

He began farming Ysguboriau in 1952 after marrying Gwenda Jones, whose family had run the farm since the beginning of the last century. Mr R ap Simon Jones has now retired from farming and the land at Ysguboriau, including adjoining farms, is farmed separately by sons William and Simon Jones who are also renowned stockmen.

In 1996, William won the supreme interbreed champion at the Royal Welsh Show with his Welsh Black cow and Simon, whose main interest is the sheep enterprise, was UK Shepherd of the Year in 1981.