EU lawmakers open battle against sheep, goat tags

Description

British and Irish lawmakers in the European Parliament launched a campaign on Tuesday against a rule that would make electronic tags for millions of sheep and goats across the EU compulsory from next year.

Britain has by far the European Union's largest flock, with around 33 million sheep, roughly a quarter of the bloc's total. Spain follows closely, then Greece.

Last year, EU farm ministers agreed to introduce electronic tags by the end of 2009, part of a strategy to prevent epidemics of contagious diseases like foot-and-mouth and replace a system where flocks of sheep and herds of goats are only tracked when moved from farm to farm, sold at market or sent for slaughter.

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