A coalition of industry bodies has written to Defra to express concern regarding a unilateral decision to add a 'UK-only' requirement for a veterinary attestation.

The group issued a warning that the UK's ability to export meat to the EU could 'grind to a halt' if the rule was implemented.

At present the EU requires the need for farms to receive ‘regular’ animal health visits by a veterinarian in order that meat from those animals can be exported to the EU. The purpose of these farm visits is to verify the absence of notifiable diseases, despite the fact that, as a country, the UK is recognised as being ‘free’ of such diseases.

Defra said that, from December 13, farmer self-declared Support Health Attestations – which declare that the farm has received ‘regular’ animal health visits by a veterinarian – will need to have been completed.

This is another layer of red tape on the livestock sectors, argued the lobby group. Change is being implemented with limited industry consultation and as yet no agreed upon a delivery mechanism.

NFU England argued that there was a real possibility that this will result in an inability to export meat to the EU, which is the destination for more than 72% of UK meat exports, worth an average of £1.3bn a year.

Defra confirmed that farms already covered by a UK Farm Assurance scheme do not need to meet this new requirement, however there are thousands of animal holdings across Great Britain that do not belong to one of these schemes and will need to have the signed document before the cut-off date.

In its submission, NFU argued that veterinary visits on this scale were not achievable. An ongoing shortage of veterinarians had been an issue since Brexit, thus increasing workloads for UK vets.

NFU stated that if Defra implemented such bureaucracy, it would create a bottleneck and farmers waiting a considerable amount of time before a vet would be available to perform the new checks to issue the paperwork required.

Read more: Defra vet export inspection proposals slammed by SAMW and NFUS

NFU livestock board chair, Richard Findlay, said: “British farmers and their vets already work closely together to ensure high standards of animal welfare and food safety. This additional level of red tape will only serve to add an unnecessary burden to an already stretched veterinary sector, and pile on further costs to farmers who are already struggling with soaring fertiliser, feed and fuel prices.

“This could seriously impact the livestock sector’s ability to produce affordable red meat, at a time when access to affordable, nutritious, sustainable food is vitally important to people at home and abroad. We get the best outcomes for farmers when Defra consults with industry. We believe that the implementation of this new rule is rushed and unnecessary.

"Even if we started today, it would take many months to complete the thousands of vet visits to farms that would be needed if Defra proceeded with this new requirement, so we are asking for an extension to the implementation date. We also asking for a digital solution with a database holding this information that can be checked anywhere along the supply chain."

Signatories to the letter were:

Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS)

British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA)

British Poultry Association (BPA)

British Pig Association (BPA)

British Meat Processing Association (BMPA)

International Meat Trade Association (IMTA)

Livestock Auctioneers’ Association Limited (LAA)

National Farmers Union (NFU)

National Farmers Union Wales(NFUC)

National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS)

National Pigs Association (NPA)

National Sheep Association (NSA)

Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW)

Sheep Veterinary Society (SVS)