Northumberland Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall has voted in favour of a three-year penalty amnesty for sheep farmers who are found to have broken controversial new electronic identification rules (EID) for their flocks.
Commenting after the vote on the amendment to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Simplification Report in the European Parliament, Fiona said:
"I welcome the European Parliament's support for this amnesty for sheep farmers. This is a sensible way forward to ensure that the new controversial rules are properly road-tested and feasible in the long-run.
"Farmers should not be unfairly penalised for problems with a system that is still far from perfect and still largely untested."
The EID for sheep scheme is currently being reviewed by the European Commission.
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