A European task force of scientific experts has backed the Farmers' Union of Wales' position by criticising the Welsh Government's decision to vaccinate rather than cull badgers to control bovine TB.

A report by the European Commission's bTB sub-group, comprising veterinary experts from across the EU, states: "There is no scientific evidence to demonstrate that badger vaccination will reduce the incidence of TB in cattle.

"However, there is considerable evidence to support the removal of badgers in order to improve the TB status of both badgers and cattle."

The conclusions confirm that Wales' TB eradication programme has been severely compromised, says the FUW, and reflects what the union has been saying regarding badger culling for the past decade.

FUW TB spokesman, Carmarthen dairy farmer Brian Walters, said today: "More than five years ago the FUW wrote to the EC to highlight these concerns and asked that Europe properly analyse the science and take a robust approach to the UK's failure to tackle TB in badgers.

"At last, the scientific experts have not only come out and supported what we have been saying all along, but they have also effectively slammed the Welsh Government for making policies based upon elections rather than tackling disease.

"Yet we know from the outcome of the last Welsh Assembly elections that those most supportive of badger culling kept their seats, so it really seems there is not even an excuse for such political cowardice."

According to the report, UK politicians "must accept their responsibility to their own farmers and taxpayers as well as to the rest of the EU and commit to a long-term strategy that is not dependent on elections".

It also states: "The Welsh eradication plan will lose some impetus as badger culling will now be replaced with badger vaccination. This was not part of the original strategy that consisted of a comprehensive plan that has now been disrupted."

Mr Walters said now that a group of international scientific experts has effectively slammed the Welsh Government for going against the science and deliberately decelerating its TB eradication programme, the FUW has written to environment minister John Griffiths asking for an urgent meeting to discuss where Wales goes from here.

"We will naturally be arguing for a return to a policy based upon science," Mr Walters added.

The Farmers' Union of Wales is calling on the Welsh Government to pay for pre-movement bTB testing of cattle following its U-turn over a badger cull to combat bovine TB.

"We repeatedly raised concerns with the previous Welsh Government that its failure to introduce policies relating to badgers and cattle in tandem would lead to additional costly cattle controls being introduced prematurely," said FUW president Emyr Jones.

"The union's original fears that the previous Welsh Government's decision to carry out a badger cull in an Intensive Action Area in West Wales would either be compromised or reneged upon were realised in March when environment minister John Griffiths announced the abandonment of the planned cull."

Mr Jones said this betrayal of the industry led to a resolution being proposed by the Glamorgan FUW branch demanding all pre-movement tests should be paid for by the Welsh Government, and the resolution was passed unchallenged at a meeting of the union's governing council last Thursday.

In a letter to environment minister John Griffiths, Mr Jones states: "While the FUW fully recognises the role which cattle play in disease transmission, the scientific evidence published by the Welsh Government indicates badgers are responsible for around 50% of confirmed herd breakdowns in areas where the disease is endemic, while herd incidence levels in areas of Wales continue to be on a par with those in Scotland, which is officially bTB free, and pre-movement testing is not compulsory.

"The current situation is the direct result of inaction by successive Welsh and UK Governments, and has led to thousands of cattle farmers in Wales annually paying the severe emotional and financial price of bTB breakdowns.

"The lack of meaningful Government action to tackle disease in what your own figures suggest is a species responsible for 50% of confirmed herd outbreaks in high incidence areas, and the betrayal of the industry which has occurred during the past twelve months, leaves us with no doubt that the Welsh Government has a moral obligation to pay for the cattle control policies it has introduced to help tackle an epidemic it and its predecessors are largely responsible for causing.

"We would therefore ask that serious consideration be given to paying for those cattle control rules which were originally introduced as part of an holistic bTB Eradication Programme, or that a proper review of pre-movement testing be instigated with a view to introducing a policy which is proportionate, holistic and addresses the major disease reservoir which exists in the badger population."

The Farmers’ Union of Wales today welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that proposals to cull badgers in England to control bovine TB are legal.

The Badger Trust had appealed against a previous High Court decision which ruled that none of the Trust’s three grounds for a legal challenge were valid.

Responding to the decision, FUW’s TB spokesman, Carmarthen dairy farmer Brian Walters, said: “Once again it has been made clear that the English decision is legal and that licenses to cull badgers ‘for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease’ can be issued.”

Mr Walters said the decision highlighted the extreme contrast between the Welsh Government’s failure to grasp the nettle and the Westminster government’s decision to stand by a robust decision in order to save the lives of cattle.

“The scientific and economical arguments in favour of a badger cull in Wales are irrefutable,” he said. “The Welsh Government’s own figures suggest that vaccination will lead to an overall loss of £3.5 million, whereas a cull would have actually saved money as well as cattle lives.”

Mr Walters said the decision had opened the door to a number of options for Welsh farmers regarding which the FUW had already sought legal advice.

“If English farmers can be granted licences to reduce the horrifying impact of this disease on their herds, then Welsh farmers should have the same rights, and we will now be consulting with our members to ask how they wish us to progress.”

[caption id="attachment_4044" align="aligncenter" width="500"] REVAMPED PAVILION: From left, Lord Morris of Aberavon, main building contractor Guy Walker, architect Gareth Thomas, Emyr Jones and architect Gareth Lewis.[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales played a critical role during the past year in informing the negotiating positions of politicians and officials in meetings with Welsh and UK Government ministers, secretaries of state, EU parliament committee chairmen and rapporteurs, cabinet members, and the EU agriculture commissioner, county delegates to the union’s quarterly grand council meeting heard yesterday (September 6).

FUW’s re-elected president Emyr Jones stressed that the union’s ability to undertake such work, while also serving the immediate needs of its members at county office level, was reliant upon income received from its insurance business.

"It is therefore worthy to note that FUW Insurance has enjoyed a year of record growth in General Premium Income, reaping the rewards of our investment in establishing a brokerage service rather than furthering our reliance on one provider. We now have 10 insurance offices servicing members in every corner of Wales, with two more to open shortly.

"This growth has also allowed us to continue the work of my predecessor, Gareth Vaughan, by moving forward with the construction of a new FUW Pavilion and Brecon and Radnor county office on the Royal Welsh Showground.

"During the 2012 Royal Welsh Show I had the honour of inviting the FUW’s first deputy general secretary, former Secretary of State for Wales Lord Morris of Aberavon, to officially open the new building.

"In presiding over the opening, I was not only honoured to be among founding members and other figureheads of the union, but also to be welcoming a new generation of FUW members including those who sit on newly established union committees,” added Mr Jones who presented the union’s the 64-page bilingual annual review to the meeting.

Also re-elected were deputy president Glyn Roberts, Padog, Betws y Coed; vice presidents Brian Walters, Carmarthen; Lorraine Howells, Rhymney; Richard Vaughan, Tywyn; South Wales finance and organisation committee member Brian Thomas, Llanfyrnach, Pembrokeshire; and North Wales finance and organisation committee member Eifion Huws, Bodedern, Anglesey.