THE easing next year of the Over Thirty Month rule, so clearing the way for the relaxation of controls on beef exports, has been welcomed by farmers.
NFU regional director for Gloucestershire said: "While the OTM rule played a vital role in restoring consumer confidence in the wake of the 19966 BSE crisis, it has been clear for some time that it had outlived its usefulness."
He explained: "The advice of both our own Food Standards Agency and the European Food Standards Agency is quite clear - the absolute embargo on older cattle entering the food chain can be replaced by the testing of carcases without any increase in the BSE risk."
Mr Gibson said the OTM rule had been a particular handicap in the region because it had been made difficult, if not impossible, to produce beef cattle in the way farmers did best, rearing them slowly and extensively on grass.
"Beef producers in this region will have a better chance of running profitable production enterprises in the new world of subsidy-free farming," he said, "and that could be crucially important to the future of farming."
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