At a recent virtual joint meeting of the Farmers’ Union of Wales’ Livestock, Wool and Marts, and Hill Farming and Marginal Land Committees, delegates discussed a Welsh Government and Defra consultation on ending live animal exports for slaughter and introducing restrictions on transporting animals. The consultation paper has already been considered by the Union’s twelve County Executive Committees.
Delegates were of the view that Welsh farmers should not be discriminated against by a ban on exports when those in other countries and around the world are free to move animals in ways which fall well below the high standards we have in the UK.
FUW Livestock, Wool and Marts Committee chairman Morgan Jones-Parry said: “The live export issue has been a hot topic for many years, and where animals from any country are transported in ways which do not meet UK and EU rules (which are the highest in the world), causing suffering, this is clearly unacceptable.