December 8, 2008
British farm unions call for live import ban
Four of the farming unions in UK have joined forces to protest against live ban imports of live cattle and sheep imports from bluetongue-infected areas of the continent.
After a meeting in Brussels, leaders of the National Farming Union, NFU Cymru (Farmers Union of Wales), NFU Scotland and the Ulster Farmers' Union have issued a statement, saying the "risks to the beef and sheep sector from imported stock carrying bluetongue strains of BTV8 and BTV1 are huge."
While they are conscious of the EU Commission's effort in monitoring the bluetongue situation in the infected areas, the group said they still want to reduce the risk of contracting bluetongue while maintaining a strong market in UK.
