NEWS
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Three leading countryside organisations have called for tougher action on hare coursing in a bid to provide greater protection for farms and rural communities. The NFU, Countryside Alliance and CLA have written to Peers in the House of Lords urging them to support an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill tabled by the Bishop of St Albans. The amendment would enable financially stretched police forces to recover the kennelling costs incurred when dogs are seized, allowing them to take more dogs away from the gangs involved. Given the high value of the dogs, supporters of the amendment believe it would act as a significant deterrent to poachers. It would also enable courts to ban convicted offenders from having dogs and strengthen penalties by lifting the existing limit on fines. The letter, signed by NFU Deputy President Stuart Roberts, Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Tim Bonner and CLA President Mark Tufnell, pointed out: “Evidence is increasingly showing that hare coursing is closely connected to organised criminals and involves enormous sums of money changing hands through high-stakes illegal betting. “As it stands, the law is simply not strong enough to tackle this crime effectively. Crops
CALL FOR TOUGHER ACTION
ON HARE COURSING continue to be ruined, brown hare populations impacted and rural communities threatened and intimidated by illegal hare coursers. “We believe that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill provides an excellent opportunity for the Government to take action in this area. The amendments proposed would deliver almost everything the government has indicated it wishes
to do in terms of legislative change, and they are supported by all rural organisations and the police.” The Bishop of St Albans, referring to “terrible and frightening stories of the rural communities who have been subject to illegal hare coursing”, stressed: “I do not believe we can wait any longer before legislating to support our farmers and rural communities on this issue.”
ACCESS TO AMERICAN MARKET One welcome Christmas present for the South East’s lamb exporters was news that the UK has again won access to the American market, worth an estimated £37m over the first five years of trade. After more than three decades of restrictions following the first outbreak of BSE in 1989, US authorities have removed the small ruminant rule in a move that allows imports of lamb into the country from 3 January 2022. The US has more than 300 million consumers, and the market for lamb is said to be growing. US President Biden committed to lifting the ban on British lamb during the Prime Minister’s visit to the White House in September, and the change follows an easing of restrictions on British beef exports earlier this year. Environment Secretary George Eustice said the news followed years of negotiations and “builds on the success of securing the resumption of UK beef exports to the US," adding: "UK lamb is renowned for its high quality, food safety and welfare standards.” DEFRA will now work with the Department for International Trade (DIT) and UK food safety authorities and their counterparts in the USA to complete the detailed paperwork that will allow exports to resume. International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan described it as “fantastic news that brings UK farmers a step closer to putting their first-class lamb on American menus for the first time in more than 20 years”. She added: “The UK exported £436.4 million worth of lamb to the world last year and over £29 million worth of meat to the US. We want those numbers to grow and this win will help achieve that.” Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB|) International
JANUARY 2022 | WWW.SOUTHEASTFARMER.NET
Market Development Director Dr Phil Hadley commented: “Gaining access to the US further cements our reputation as being world renowned producers of high quality lamb and we look forward to seeing our products on US plates in the New Year.” The news was welcomed by NFU President Minette Batters, who said: "It’s excellent to hear that the work of the UK government and levy boards has finally helped secure access for British lamb to the United States. British lamb is a fantastic, sustainable product that is recognised around the world for its quality and we know there is demand for it in the US. “This is exactly the sort of export opportunity we need to see the government pursuing and is something we strongly support. This is a positive step for Britain’s lamb producers.” The National Sheep Association (NSA) also welcomed the change, with Chief Executive Phil Stocker, pointing out that it was good news not just for sheep meat producers but for exports of British sheep genetics, which he said would “help both the UK and USA sheep sectors”. He paid credit to the AHDB, which he said had been working on the issue for many years, as well as the UK Export Certification Partnership, the Government and the DIT. On genetics, Mr Stocker commented: “Many British sheep breeds are present [in the US] but are numerically too small to have an adequate gene pool, so the demand for our genetics is strong and is already being asked for by USA sheep breeders. This is also the case for our commercial meat breeds and for many of our heritage/native breeds and will be of benefit to the global sheep farming sector.”
