MEAT EXPORTS LIFTED – HUME (Jim Hume)

MEAT EXPORTS LIFTED – HUME

November 20, 2007 12:00 AM

Jim Hume, MSP for the South of Scotland, has today welcomed the news that meat export restrictions have finally been lifted for most of the UK. The details were agreed by the EU Veterinary Committee last week and came into force yesterday afternoon (Monday).

Jim Hume said:-

"This is good news for meat producers in Scotland and hugely important is the lifting of the 21-day standstill rule, which prevented farmers sending animals to slaughter for the export market if they had brought other live animals on to the farm in the preceding three weeks.

"There are however still some restrictions in that live exports are not anticipated to begin until the end of the year.

The MSP continued:-

"The foot and mouth outbreaks have sent devastating ripples through the industry.

"I am continuing to press the case with supermarkets for a better deal for our primary producers - the supermarkets are powerful key players in the food supply chain who hold the potential to make a massive difference to prices at the farm gate and therefore have a role to play in sustaining a successful and viable agriculture industry."